JERUSALEM, April 15 (Reuters) - Imagine a country where a former president is set to go to jail for rape, where the previous prime minister is standing trial for graft and where the foreign minister faces charges of money laundering.
Imagine also a country where police recommend the CEO and former chairman of a major bank be tried for fraud and where leading candidates for promotion in the military and prison service have lost out because of conduct deemed dishonourable.
This is not an imaginary country. This is Israel, where a growing number of the elite is falling foul of the law.
The slew of high-profile scandals has tarnished the reputation of an entire political class and also risks hurting the standing of the much-respected judiciary, which has been criticised for dragging out sensitive cases for years.
However, the morass of probes does not mean the country is drowning in graft, analysts say, with Israel coming in a respectable 30th place in Transparency International's 2010 corruption index, well above the Middle East norm.
Instead, it shows the country has a functioning set of checks and balances that is helping impose a new moral code.
"You could say Israel is corrupt, but you could also say it shows how our police, attorney general and judges will not be intimidated," said Gidi Grinstein, the head of the independent, Tel Aviv-based Reut Institute think-tank.
"Israelis are ashamed of the scandals, but can be proud of the clean-up," he added.
CHANGING ETHICS
The most recent case to hit the headlines revolves around ultranationalist Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who was informed on Wednesday that he was likely to be indicted for fraud, money laundering and witness tampering. [ID:nLDE73C252]
Lieberman, who will be forced to resign if charges follow, denies wrongdoing in an investigation that dates back 15 years.
"The common denominator in these recent scandals is that the suspected crimes were all committed or pertain to something that happened a decade or more ago," said Amotz Asa-El, a political commentator and former executive editor of the Jerusalem Post.
"Today's politicians, the ones in their 30s, now understand the cost of stepping out of line. I therefore think we will see less of these types of scandals in the future," he added.
Others are not so sure, arguing that Israel's brand of coalition politics, which places considerable power in the hands of small, niche parties, is fertile ground for dodgy deals.
"Unless we change our electoral system I don't think this problem will go away," said Jonathan Rynhold, senior lecturer in politics at Bar-Ilan University.
"The amount of patronage politics that goes on is huge. It might not necessarily be corrupt, but it certainly stinks."
It is a far cry from the pioneering days of the young Israel, when ministers would travel by bus, parliamentarians were fired by ideology and the leaders lived in great modesty.
Israeli media revel in revealing the more luxurious habits of the modern-day elite, with the public still easily shocked by tales of wrongdoing and clamouring for higher standards.
"This kind of behaviour passes for normal in most Western societies, but in a place where everyone's child might have to be called up to fight for their country, it matters more. This is a major issue for Israeli politics," said Rynhold.
POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
Israel is more strictly regulated than many other countries. For example, election campaign spending and donations are capped at a very low amount by comparison with Western allies.
In addition, salaries in Israel are also relatively low. Raming home the point, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a copy of his government pay stub on Facebook this year, showing he makes 15,000 Israeli shekels ($4,400) a month.
In the cut-throat world of politics, temptation is big.
But the daily diet of graft accusations has undoubtedly worn down the reputation of the political class and mistrust in government has also affected the reputation of the judiciary.
Liebermann's supporters have complained about the mammoth length of his inquiry. They also question why it came to a head on the day he was due to address his party conference and at a time when his political star is firmly in the ascendant.
An opinion poll in left-leaning Haaretz newspaper this week said Israelis were evenly split between those who thought the prosecution was politically motivated and those who didn't.
The detractors add that political enemies use justice as a battering ram, instigating investigations as a way of hobbling their opponent's careers and snarling their time in office.
"Suing politicians is the modern democratic way of toppling them," said Grinstein. "This process is self-destructive." (Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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