Israel ranks 33rd in World Corruption Perceptions Index
Corruption index indicates Israel still slipping in ranks, as it is awarded six points on public, governmental sectors' immorality scale. Denmark, New Zealand take lead, Somalia ranks last
Israel has slipped three places in the World Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and is now ranked 33rd out of 180 nations.
Tuesday's Transparency Report, which ranks corruption in public service, gave Israel a score of six points out of 10, with 10 being "corruption free."
Both the index and the report are complied by Transparency International, an organization dedicated to increasing government and business accountability and curbing both international and national corruption.
CPI's 2007 index ranked Israel in the 30th place, with 6.1 points on its Transparency Report. The corresponding 2006 report, ranked Israel in 34th place.
Israel shares the 33rd spot with the island of Commonwealth of Dominica and island in the West Indies.
More needs to be done
According to Transparency International's Israeli bureau, Shvil, the top 10 on the list are comprised of the major members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), with Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden taking the lead with 9.3 points, Singapore coming in second with 9.2 points and Switzerland ranking third with 9 points.
The top 20 include Germany in 14th place (7.9), the UK in 16th place (7.7) and Japan and the US in 18th place with 7.3 points. The bottom ranks included India in 85th place (3.4), China in 72nd place (3.6), Iran ranked 141 (2.3) and Russia in the 147 place with 2.1 points. Somalia won the dubious last place on the list.
"Corruption means valuable resources are not directed to where they should be, which has a detrimental effect on vital infrastructures such as security, education and health," said Prof. Joseph Gross, chairman of Shvil.
Shvil's CEO, Galia Sagi added that "Israel's current rankings prove that the fight against corruption has yet to yield the best results. Judging our officials according to ethical standards, rather than legal criteria is the only way we can make a real difference."
