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Corruption no longer fazes Israeli voters

Today's Israel is a far cry from the days of the 1992 election, when politicians' criminal entanglements outraged voters.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to a ceremony on Memorial Day, when Israel commemorates its fallen soldiers, at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem May 8, 2019. Heidi Levine/Pool via REUTERS - RC1FBD4D67D0
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The first 15 years of Likud rule in Israel came to an end in 1992, when Yitzhak Rabin defeated Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. Ultimately, the opposition brought the Likud down with the campaign, “We’re sick of you corrupt people!” based on a series of police investigations, indictments and overall government corruption. While none of the corruption was directly connected to Shamir or any of his senior ministers, it was enough to spark public protests and mark the ruling party with the stench of corruption.

Today, 27 years later, the Likud has been in power for over a decade and government corruption has surpassed anything ever seen before. What happened in 1992 looks like a series of misdemeanors compared to what is going on now.

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