The Antidote to Olmertism

Yossi Klein Halevi, in The New Republic, writes on “Why Olmert Must Go”:

Forget the envelopes stuffed with dollars being passed to Ehud Olmert by American businessman Morris Talansky. Forget the favors Olmert solicited for Talansky’s business interests. Forget that 70 percent of the public thinks he’s lying when he insists he took nothing for himself and that the cash was intended only for his election campaigns. Forget the half-dozen other inquiries into Olmert’s business dealings . . . .

Ehud Olmert must go because he doesn’t understand why he must go. Incapable of shame, he has proved himself unworthy to lead a people who are fighting for their lives.

Halevi concludes his article with a recommendation that the torch be passed to a new generation:

The end of Olmert needs to begin a process that will end Olmertism, the acceptance of corruption as an unavoidable part of Israeli politics. The current generation of politicians who grew up in the culture of Olmertism needs to be replaced by a new generation — young people in their 30s and 40s who, for example, helped transform the Israeli economy and high-tech sector.   

I have a better idea.  But it requires that you first read an except from the extraordinary June 3, 2006 interview that Ari Shavit had with Benjamin Netanyahu, whose career at the time was in eclipse, after the devastating loss at the polls to Ehud Olmert.  The interview started with the economy but then turned to corruption: 

Was your feeling as a candidate that you could not have your say?

"You can have your say, but no one really listens to you. You stand before walls of contempt and disdain. . . . And they completely ignore the fact that when I came to the Finance Ministry, the economy was about to collapse, as in Argentina. The pension funds were about to collapse. Growth was minus 1.3 percent. The governor of the Bank of Israel warned against the bankruptcy of a major bank. The situation was on the brink of an economic Yom Kippur in which poverty would have expanded and deepened frighteningly, and as a state we would have collapsed. They said none of that. . . .

Do you have the feeling that you were the victim of ingratitude?

"Yes. I devoted three years of my life to hard labor, day and night, in order to save the country’s economy. So it hurts me. I felt deep disappointment. The only ads in support of my economic policy came from professors in the national camp, who are not known as big-time players in the sphere of capital."

You were hurt?

"Of course I was hurt. I am a human being. I was also disappointed at the fact that people are so weak at critical moments. Really weak. Their immediate interest is probably so strong and so coercive that they are incapable of overcoming it. But as finance minister I overcame my personal interest. I went against my voters. To save Israel’s economy I was ready to shed political blood. My political blood. And I did not expect those people to shed their blood; all I expected of them was not to shed my blood."

What happened with the economy?

"Israel became one of the most powerful economic engines in the world. From a growth rate of minus 1.3 percent to 6.6 percent growth in three years — there is no such thing anywhere. There is no advanced state in the world that changed direction with that speed in recent years."

Can that growth rate last?

"Of course, but only if we persist with the policy that I led. If the revolution I fomented is not curbed, Israel will grow at a rate of 6 to 7 percent in each of the next 10 years. That means the doubling of the GNP in a decade. An economy of a quarter of a trillion dollars in 2016. One of the world’s leading economies."

You really believe in the Israeli tiger?

"Certainly. What a question. It is not an iota less than the Singapore tiger or the Celtic tiger. It is wrong to believe that education alone brings growth. Bulgaria has a very high education level but the people live in poverty because there was no market revolution there. But when you have the combination of a free market with education and technology — the sky’s the limit. . . .

If you were such a success as finance minister, where did you go wrong?  How did you come to be so loathed?

"I was always careful in money management. Both in managing my money and in managing the state’s money. I did not spend money I did not have. It’s possible that I should have distributed part of the social benefits half a year earlier. My cautiousness worked against me."

And there was your resignation from the treasury. In retrospect, it looks like the greatest political mistake of all time. You did not prevent the disengagement, you made possible the convergence and you deprived yourself of the premiership.

"I do not pretend to be a brilliant politician. I think that I am a statesman and a leader more than I am a politician. I have a prognosticating ability. I understand the measures that need to be taken in the face of an emerging reality. But I am not a buddy type. Contrary to the prevailing opinion, I do not maneuver well vis-a-vis journalists and editors. I do not have the readiness to benefit the owners of centralized capital and the wielders of influence. I lack certain skills and I lack connections. There is also a limit to the game I am willing to play. . . .

Of late there is more and more talk about corruption.  You were prime minister, you were finance minister.  Is Israel a corrupt country?

"There is corruption in Israel. It is increasing. In the past few years it has been growing and deepening at a dizzying pace. But those who talk about corruption are generally off-target. They talk about the connection between the member of [a party’s] central committee and the politician who gets him a job in order to win his support. But that is a relatively minor phenomenon, and even when it happens, its material scope is limited. Therefore I say that this is only the tip of the corruption iceberg. It is the less important 10 percent that is above the water. The more serious corruption is below the surface. It is hardly talked about; it is hardly known about. But it is the truly worrisome corruption, it is the true danger."

What are you talking about?

"I am talking about the senior politician or the senior official who distributes assets to a magnate who pays him money for it. A great deal of money."

You are talking about bribery — unadulterated bribery.

"Yes. Bribes in envelopes. Bribery in the transfer of millions to bank accounts in Vaduz or the Cayman Islands."

Are you serious? Are you really saying that underlying major economic decisions are bank accounts in Vaduz and the Caymans?

"You know very well what the answer is."

In professional circles you are considered impeccable, but among the public the sense is that you are corrupt, too.

"That allegation just infuriates me. That is one of the most vicious and lying spins the public has ever been fed. As prime minister and as finance minister I was responsible for hundreds of billions, over tenders and contracts in huge sums, and never, but never, was I tainted with wrongdoing."

Maybe your image as a corrupt person comes from your close relations with people of wealth?

"On the contrary. My friends have never gained anything from their friendship. The fact that they were my friends did not serve their interests and did not prevent me from often taking action against them. When we sold Discount Bank, the winner of the tender [the Bronfman family] was the one who funded my political rival. When we sold Bezeq [the telecommunications company], friends of mine who bid in the tender lost, whereas the winner [tycoon Haim Saban] assisted my political rivals. The fact that one of the directors of the big banks is also a friend of mine did not prevent me from initiating a reform that greatly weakened the banks.

Don’t forget that when I concluded my term as prime minister, I had one great worry: how I would feed my family. I can’t say I didn’t have a cent to my name, but I had very little. I had an apartment on Azza Street in Jerusalem, a not very impressive bank account, two small children and a pension of NIS 4,000 a month. An honest politician lives from his salary and that is what I did. I received payment for the books I wrote, but I never believed that I had the right to work for my personal interests in the course of political life. My economic situation changed only after I left public life."

When you held positions of power, were attempts made to bribe you?

"There was one time when an attempt was made to approach me. It was done very cleverly and very cautiously. I rejected it out of hand and it stopped.  I did not allow it to develop."

If you had accepted the offer, would you have become rich?

"Very."

* * *

Has the corruption in Israel become worse in recent years?

"Unequivocally, yes. Look at the international indices that examine corruption. But at the same time it is important to emphasize that when it comes to the wealth-government connection, most of the owners of capital are not part of that connection. Nor are many of those in government. But between a small group of the wealthy and a certain group of people in power, there is a connection on an astounding scale. And therefore I say that corruption has become a cancer.

Halevi suggests that the generation of politicians steeped in the culture of Olmertism be replaced by the uncorrupt young people who helped transform the Israeli economy.  But why not first turn the government over to the non-corrupt leader whose efforts made that opportunity for young people possible, and who (along with him and him) can articulate Israel’s case with an integrity missing from the current Olmertian government?