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Israel perceived to be a little less corrupt than it was in 2008
By Lior Dattel

Despite the imprisonment of former cabinet ministers and the outcry over governmental profligacy, Israel actually rose one notch in the international ranking of rot this year. Yet it is still perceived as one of the more corrupt nations in the Western world, according to Transparency International's annual survey of perceived levels of public-sector corruption.

In 2009, Israel ranked 32nd in the organization's index, a slight improvement from the year before, when it ranked 33rd (the lower the ranking, the more corrupt the country is perceived as being).
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Israel has hovered around this less-than-complimentary position for the last several years: In 2007, it was ranked 30th, and in 2006, it received the lowest ranking in its history - 34th.

It may be hard to believe now, but the first year Israel was ranked, in 1997, it nabbed 15th place - situating it comfortably among the world's most developed countries - with a grade of 7.9. After that, its ranking declined inexorably until 2006, when it reached its all-time low of 5.9.

The Corruption Perceptions Index measures the perceived level of public-sector and political corruption in 180 countries and territories around the world, with "corruption" being defined as the abuse of public office for private gain.

The composite index is based on 13 surveys conducted by 11 different research institutions, which processed responses from 28,000 businesspeople and experts both in Israel and around the world. Overseas respondents to the survey may have been influenced by the police's recommendation to indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, or the indictment filed against former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

This year, Israel shared 32nd place with Spain, with a grade of 6.1.

It was followed by Dominica (an island with a population of 72,000 that shared 33rd place with Israel last year and was ranked 34th this year); Portugal and Puerto Rico (which shared 35th place), and Botswana and Taiwan (which shared 37th).

When two countries tie for one place, the following slot remains vacant, meaning that no state was ranked 33rd or 36th this year.

Despite Israel's marginal improvement, it is hard to ignore the fact that several Middle Eastern countries are gaining ground much faster.

Qatar, which has been perceived as less corrupt than Israel for the past two years, raised its grade to 7 this year, up from 6.5 last year, and was ranked 22nd. The United Arab Emirates, which was rated more corrupt than Israel last year (in 35th place), improved its position this year to 30th, meaning it is viewed as less corrupt than Israel.

New Zealand, Denmark, Singapore and Sweden are perceived as the least corrupt countries in the world, while Somalia, Afghanistan, Myanmar (Burma) and Sudan were seen by survey participants as the most corrupt.

Britain was ranked 17th, with a grade of 7.7. China, which is in the midst of a major government drive to stamp out corruption, was ranked only 79th, with a grade of 3.6. But Russia ranked even lower, in 146th place, with a grade of 2.2.

Syria improved its rank from 147 last year to 126 in 2009, with a grade of 2.6. Iran, on the other hand, fell from 141 in the last index published to 168 this year, with a grade of only 1.8.
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