Ahead of the 2009 elections, the Labor Party, one of Israel's largest, explored focusing its campaign on the war against governmental corruption. Theoretically, it was a logical choice, as the elections had been moved up in response to the corruption affair surrounding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Also, Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson was being tried on charges of stealing millions of shekels, and an atmosphere of disgust pervaded the country. The head of that same party also recalled the 1992 success of the Labor Party's campaign under late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, using the catchy slogan roughly translated as, "Corrupt people, we're fed up with you!” All this contributed to the toppling of the Likud government.

But when the anti-corruption campaign's effectiveness was tested in opinion polls, public interest in it was found to be minor. At the top of the Israeli priority list is economic issues, followed by security; corruption appears closer to the bottom, together with the environment. As a result, the corruption issue was shelved.

Six years later, on the eve of the 2015 elections, government corruption dominates the headlines, even breaking records. First came Olmert's allegedly criminal behavior as revealed, in recent months, in the tapes of his former longtime aide Shula Zaken. Then came the bribery suspicions in the burgeoning Yisrael Beitenu corruption scandal, including former Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov and Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum. Even more recently, we are witnessing the so-called Bottlegate affair in the prime minister's house. According to reports, the prime minister's wife allegedly pocketed the cash received for recycled bottles from the prime minister's residence. She returned some of the money to the state, but only after several years had passed.

The affair immediately became sizzling hot in the hands of the Likud's rival parties, and they have helped to keep the issue at the top of the public agenda over the last few days. They called on the attorney general to launch a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife. Meanwhile, Tzipi Livni, No. 2 in the Zionist Camp party, succeeded in dominating headlines Jan. 31, when she said, "Netanyahu spends more on alcohol than some Israelis earn per month." Thus, Livni linked the corruption allegations against the prime minister and the high cost of living, an issue that disturbs many Israelis.