Tag Archive for corruption

White House seeks clarification on ethical, financial abuses at UNRWA

The White House requested to be updated on potential misuse of US funding of UNRWA; Switzerland suspended their aid with the Netherlands following suit in the wake of the UN report of sexual misconduct, corruption at the highest levels of the Palestinian refugee agency.

By Elad Benari

 

The White House is seeking clarifications from the UN on the investigation into alleged ethical abuses at UNRWA, the UN agency for “Palestinian refugees”, Israel’s Channel 12 News revealed on Friday.

A senior official told the channel that even though the US stopped contributing to UNRWA, they are concerned there was misuse of US funds. Continue Reading »

REPORT: Sexual misconduct, corruption at highest levels of UNRWA

In an internal ethics investigation of the UN agency created to maintain Palestinian Arabs as eternal refugees, reports of sexual misconduct, corruption, abuse of power along with a host of ethics violations were directed at the highest levels of the agency, including its chief, Pierre Krahenbuhl.

By AFP

 

An Internal ethics report has alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority at the highest levels of the UN agency for Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendants even as the organization faced an unprecedented crisis after US funding cuts.

The allegations included in the confidential report by the agency’s ethics department are now being scrutinized by UN investigators. Continue Reading »

Leaked PA Documents Reveal Rampant Palestinian Corruption Under Mahmoud Abbas 

In yet another episode revealing blatant corruption within the Palestine leadership, leaked documents exposed how PA officials would demand large sums of public money for their personal use.

By Matt Wanderman

 

Newly-leaked documents once again confirm accusations against Palestinian Authority (PA) officials of corruption and misusing public funds. A senior PA official, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed to Associated Press that the documents are authentic.

One item is a request for $4 million from Bahrain, signed by Majd al-Khaldi, PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s senior diplomatic adviser. The money was supposedly needed to build a private complex in Ramallah that would “resist the Israeli settlements.” Continue Reading »

UN Corruption Stifles Gaza Reconstruction Plans

The UK’s The Guardian reported that officials are taking bribes to produce more concrete than is needed, in order to sell on the black market.

By i24news

 

Barely four months after a bloody conflict battered Gaza, experts warn that a new war could be in the offing if reconstruction is not accelerated and Palestinian divisions remain.

Mahmud Hams/AFP

Palestinian men in a horse cart make their way through a flooded street in Gaza City on November 27, 2014 – Mahmud Hams/AFP 

Since the end of the deadly 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, which killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, little has changed on the ground in Gaza. Continue Reading »

World Arabs Envious of Israel-Style Democracy

Sami Dirani, of Al-Hayat, “Israel is the enemy of the Arabs…but it practices democracy – something the Arabs do not know. Some [Arabs] are dying of starvation, while others are swimming in pools of dollars.”

By Israel Today Staff

 

The recent conviction of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on graft charges has many in the Arab world salivating over what they once again realize is the region’s only true democracy.

Arabs seek Israel-Style Democracy – Photo source: Israel Today

Israeli-Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh noted in a recent analysis for the Gatestone Institute that corruption is so rampant in the Arab world that today it is the norm, and many see emulating Israel as the only way out of this oppressive phenomenon. Continue Reading »

Former Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sentenced to 6 years for corruption

 

For 1st time in Israel’s history, a former Prime Minister is sentenced to jail: Judge sentences former PM Ehud Olmert to 6 years in jail for his role in real-estate development corruption affair.

By Naama Cohen-Friedman

 

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced to six years in prison and fined NIS 1 million in court in Tel Aviv on Tuesday morning for his role in the ‘Holyland Affair’, the real estate corruption case considered the largest of its kind in Israeli history.

Photo: Yotam Ronen

Six years in prison for former PM – Photo: Yotam Ronen

The case marks the first time a prime minister was convicted of a felony and now, with his sentencing, the first time a former prime minister has ever been sentenced to jail time. Continue Reading »

Incredible compilation of Palestinian corruption, the EU & US won’t look at

Since 1994, the EU has provided certain representatives of the Palestinian people with financial support of nearly €5.6 billion.

Discounting Arab & American contributors to this scam, Europe gives the PA 40% ABOVE the annual budget of Sydney, Australia, a city of roughly the same population.

 

Need I ask: Where has this money gone?…and why do the Palestinians continue to receive free money?

 

Surprise !!! Corruption in the Palestinian Authority

A member of US Congress has called to cut off aid to the PA,  due to the growing impact of PMW – Palestinian Media Watch exposure  of salaries being paid to terrorists . Continue Reading »

Israel holds 36th place in Gov’t Corruption Index

 

Israel climbs 3 spots from 39th to 36th place of 177 countries in level of transparency.

By Avital Lahav, Reuters

Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Israel 36th out of 177 countries, giving it a score of 61 out of 100 for its level of transparency. This suggests a minor improvement from last year when Israel was ranked 39th with a score of 60. However, 64% of OECD members were rated above Israel.

graft Illustration - Photo: Shutterstock

Graft Illustration – Photo: Shutterstock

Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranks more than four-fifths of countries in the Middle East below 50 on a scale where zero is a country perceived to be highly corrupt and 100 perceived to be very clean. Continue Reading »

Qatar gives Abbas $150 million for struggling PA economy

 

Palestinian Authority reported that Qatar had answered its plea for funding.

World Bank reports that in the 1st 6 months of 2013, the West Bank economy shrank for the 1st time in 10 years following serious decline in foreign financial assistance & restrictions imposed by Jerusalem.

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

The Persian Gulf state of Qatar has granted $150 million to the Palestinian Authority to help revive its economy, PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said on Wednesday.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah – Photo: AP

The PA, which relies on foreign aid to plug a chronic budget deficit, has long struggled to pay salaries of some 170,000 civil servants and finance the costs of running main services in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »