If there were such a thing as a universal grading scale for corruption, Israel would find itself firmly in the middle. It is undoubtedly a less corrupt state than, say, Liberia or Indonesia. But it is much more corrupt than Britain or Germany.

I consider myself somewhat of an expert in the field. As the editor of "HaOlam Hazeh," and later as a member of Parliament, I waged a relentless war on corruption. I publicized not only the biggest scandals in the state's history but hundreds of smaller scandals as well.

Was I successful? It depends on one's definition of success. In the early years of the state, there was a lot of corruption of a personal nature, such as dipping into and stealing from public funds. This type of occurrence has diminished considerably over the years. But corruption has not disappeared. On the contrary: It has grown to gigantic proportions. Only now it is an open, official corruption, sanctioned by an establishment which controls all of the state systems.

Let us take the most simple example: A small-time party bureaucrat, devoid of any talents, an individual whose entire strength lies in his tongue (that part which speaks and which licks someone's behind) is appointed "Director" of a public institution. This is the epitome of corruption. The State Comptroller has already defined this as plain stealing, because it denies the public's right to control its funds in a proper manner. But it is a widespread phenomenon. The appointment of a suitable person -- man or woman -- to the position of "Director" is the exception. The appointment of an individual lacking any required skills is the rule. And we are talking about thousands of various positions.

When there is a change in government, many thousands of small-time bureaucrats in the victorious camp storm the public body like a swarm of hungry rats.

(A professor from one of the more corrupt states in South America once told me why he opposes any coup d'etat. "The leeches of the current government have already sucked out enough blood; therefore their bite is not as vicious. With a government overthrow, a fresh horde of new and ravenous leeches will appear, and until those are satiated, it will be awful.")

There is not a single Western state in which the entire political realm is subject to the tireless maneuvers of an individual who has been the target of a huge corruption trial. But Aryeh Deri, who channeled huge funds from the public purse to his Shas party, and perhaps to his own pocket as well, claims, somewhat correctly, that he has only done what "everybody else does." His only crime was that he was inexperienced, too sure of himself and too impatient, which is why he was unable to channel his corrupt acts into legal venues.

Whenever a group of operators calling itself "a party" sells its votes for huge benefits, public and private, it is legal corruption. When a Prime Minister buys these votes in return for hundreds of millions of dollars from the public's coffers which are not his to raid, he engages in corruption on a gigantic scale, even if it is seemingly legal. The beneficiaries of such corruption are, supposedly, "Public Institutions." But those institutions consist of individuals, and a large portion of the money gets diverted into private pockets. When this is done in the name of the Torah of Israel, then the stink rises sky-high.

The conversion of confiscated land to settlements ("State Lands") very often also involves a high level of corruption. While using lofty words about the People of Israel and the Holy Land, billions of dollars worth of property is turned over to contractors and their political partners. The love of Israel and the love of money have come down from heaven hand in hand.

Young people who entered the Knesset as poor lawyers have turned into multi-millionaires in a matter of a few short years. They have engaged in what Americans refer to as "influence peddling." Junior clerks who have gotten close to the Prime Minister (and it does not matter which one), retire and conduct international deals worth billions of dollars, exploiting the connections made during their government stint. Even if they do not receive millions of dollars in bribes (which at times is the claim), nevertheless this is government-sanctioned corruption, with no laws against it.

One could go on and on. The bottom line is that hundreds of thousands of children in Israel live below the poverty line, while the corruption of the upper echelons eats up a large portion of the gross domestic product. The public regards this with equanimity, and even the unemployed in the lowest ranks aren't angry. Tomorrow they will once again vote enthusiastically for the Likud, which at present runs this sorry show.

And why is it that our media is not available to vigorously address this problem? Because the media is occupied with trying to ferret out Palestinian corruption. There, in regions which are not even a state yet, within an Authority established overnight without benefit of prior experience or advance preparations, there is -- surprise! -- corruption. In order to keep unity in a society divided into great families, while the national struggle is still at its height, Arafat has been forced to parcel out governmental posts among those families and groups, not always according to the most talented. Because the Palestinian economy has been systematically devastated by the Israeli occupation, there is precious little else to parcel out -- and those who have been shortchanged have become disgruntled. But listening to Israel's complaints, one is forced to smile: In comparison to our gargantuan, state-sanctioned corruption, corruption within the Palestinian system is fairly innocuous. Whoops, I nearly said: May we have such corruption.