Given the series of corruption scandals that have recently captured the headlines in Israel, exemplified in a Supreme Court decision that will send former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to prison for 18 months for bribery, the general feeling is that corruption is seeping ever deeper into state institutions. This is reflected in a survey conducted Jan. 8 for Israeli TV Channel 2 revealing that 72% of respondents believe their elected public officials are corrupt.

International rankings on corruption published in recent years have been far from flattering to Israel in comparison to other Western countries. According to the 2015 corruption perceptions index just released by Transparency International, Israel ranks in the bottom third of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development members — that is 24th out of 34 for corruption.

Yet regardless of the general feeling that corruption continues to spread at the national and municipal levels, the Israeli public and the political system seem to be indifferent to the situation, if not actually tolerant of public officials suspected or even convicted of corruption. The most blatant example of this tolerant attitude is the return of Shas leader Aryeh Deri to head the Interior Ministry. He had been forced to resign this same position in 1993 over bribery charges and his subsequent conviction, for which he served two years in prison. Other public officials have enjoyed the same indulgent attitude by the public despite being implicated in corruption scandals. Shlomo Lahiani, the former Bat Yam mayor currently serving eight months behind bars, remains one of the most popular mayors the city has ever had.

Experts interviewed by Al-Monitor emphasized that the indifference the Israeli public displays toward the detrimental economic, social and moral consequences of corruption is nothing less than an existential threat to the state. Eitan Erez, a veteran attorney and anti-corruption activist, said, “The damage to Israel caused by corruption is by far more dangerous than any damage done to us by Hezbollah in the past decade.”