Scandals Surprisingly Ignored.

[Lonan3]

We have heard so often from the likes of Rog that the IoM is an absolute cesspit of corruption etc.

At the same time, we have often heard him extol the virtues of the country whose nationality he holds - apart from his British citizenship.

So perhaps it's time to redress the balance a little.

No, this is not another rant about the 'war crimes' committed against others in the vicinity, nor even about the thousands of Palestinians currently held - without charge - in camps.

Instead, it's about more visible signs of corruption in what is fast becoming a mirror image of the worst excesses of the USA.

 

Possible charges of rape, sexual assault, and wire-tapping facing Israeli President Moshe Katsav are the most serious in a long string of allegations to be leveled against the nation's leaders.

 

Here is a list of other top politicians to have faced scandals in recent years:

 

Former justice minister Haim Ramon, a rising political star and divorced father-of-two, resigned in late August after accusations that he forcibly kissed a woman soldier on the mouth at a Tel Aviv party in July, as Israel went to war in Lebanon. He has since been charged with sexually harassing her.

 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under investigation for possible corruption involving several property deals in Jerusalem. No charges have been filed. A similar investigation earlier in the year was closed due to lack of evidence.

 

Tzahi Hanegbi, a senior member of Olmert's Kadima party and chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, was indicted in September over unlawful appointments allegedly made while a government minister.

 

Omri Sharon, son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, was sentenced to nine months in prison in February on corruption charges for financing his father's campaign for the leadership of the Likud party in 1999. The scandal threatened to embroil Ariel Sharon as well, but no charges were filed against the premier, who has been in a coma since suffering a stroke in early January. His son has yet to serve his prison sentence.

 

Former chief of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Arieh Deri, was sentenced in 2001 to three years in prison for corruption and breach of trust.

 

Yitzhak Mordechai's promising public career was cut short in 2000, when he resigned as transport minister after he was charged with sexually assaulting a female employee. In 2001, he was given an 18-month suspended prison sentence.

 

Former president, the late Ezer Weizman, resigned in July 2000 after revelations that he received around $450,000 as "gifts" from French millionaire Edouard Saroussi in the 1980s, when Weizman was an MP and minister.

 

Current chief of the rightwing Likud party and former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu was investigated in 1999 on allegations that he wanted to use public funds to pay for work done on his private residence and with attempting to keep gifts received while premier. Charges were never filed for lack of evidence.

 

So, tell us again just how bad the IoM is!

[LoneWolf]

Looks to me as if the Israeli justice system is working fairly well. Its a hallmark of open societies that powerful individuals such as politicians are not protected from justice and the weight of the law.

Well done for pointing this out

In my opinion the Isle of Man is another location where the high and mighty cannot escape the consequences of their actions.

So is the USA and so is the UK and so are almost all of the long established members of the EU.

We are very lucky to have been born and raised in this part of the world and to live in relatively open and free societies.

The majority of people in the world have not been so lucky.