Defense Minister Shimon Peres disclosed yesterday that he has approached three persons of unquestioned integrity to form a non-partisan watchdog committee against corruption in Israel’s defense establishment. The disclosure was made following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting which discussed the recently released report of State Comptroller Yitzhak Nebenzahl that cited numerous instances of corruption and mismanagement in government ministries departments and the armed forces.
“I do not feel myself a citizen of a corrupted state but a citizen of a state that fights corruption,” Peres reportedly told his fellow ministers at the meeting.
Although the Nebenzahl report found corruption to exist throughout the civil service, the public has been most shocked by the exposure of bribery and fraud in the Defense Ministry and armed forces, hitherto regarded as models of probity. Peres has declared that he would not shield the identity of any officials involved no matter how high their position.
He said the people asked to undertake the watchdog task were Shimon Avidan, former commander of the famed Givati Brigade that fought the Egyptians in Israel’s War for Independence in 1948 and who is presently secretary general of the Mapam-sponsored Hakibbutz Haartzi movement; and Prof. Hans Klinghoffer a former Knesset member and legal advisor to the Liberal Party. The name of the third person, described as a prominent auditor, was not immediately disclosed.
Peres said that the three-man team would be provided with a staff of auditors, accountants and other professionals to help oversee the transactions and maintenance systems of the Defense Ministry and the armed forces.
MORE CASES UNCOVERED
Meanwhile, additional cases of alleged corruption have been uncovered in the Defense Ministry and while some of them are of a relatively petty nature, they are regarded as serious because of their impact on public confidence in the defense establishment, It was disclosed today that 16 persons are being questioned by police in the northern district in connection with mishandling of goods, falsifying delivery documents and missing goods from a military construction materials depot on the Golan Heights.
The persons under investigation were identified as contractors, clerks, two sergeant-majors who were formerly employed as civilian workers at the supply depot and the officers in charge of the depot. The police are being assisted by military police and the suspects are cooperating with the investigation, sources said.
It was also learned that two Foreign Ministry employes have been suspended pending trial on charges of receiving bribes in amounts up to $10,000. One was employed in an Asian country and the other was an attach in an African country. Their names were not disclosed.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
