Israeli politics are in a tailspin. Several components of Israeli politics are an insult to voters' intelligence. Here is a rundown of the latest bad apples, picked in the last 24 hours: In the Likud primary on Wednesday, the ballots at 30 polling stations -- 5 percent -- were not counted correctly, or at all. And it wasn't just that some of the ballots weren't counted, but the ballot committees signed off on protocols that defy all logic. At one ballot, 200 voters cast a total of 250 votes in favor of one of the candidates. Maybe this is a new kind of math. Or maybe it's an insult to our intelligence. On Sunday, a man from the Israel Aerospace Industry, which traditionally participates in the Likud primaries, explained on Channel 2 how documents were falsified to deceive Yisrael Katz, and may have succeeded. Pure voter fraud. Television host Ilana Dayan recently interviewed Aryeh Deri, the recently resigned head of Shas. He wore his martyr face and did a favor to the nation by hinting that he would reassume the leadership of the party. But political analysts knew all along that his resignation was feigned and that his tears were those of a crocodile. It may not have been an actual crime, but from the perspective of the public his resignation was an act of fraud. It was shameless. In his complete disregard for the public, he knew that he would not be punished. On the contrary, he thought that he would be rewarded. Does he understand that the public sees him as a trickster who committed fraud- But the most shameless of all are Yisrael Beytenu. It was announced on Sunday that television presenter Sharon Gal had struck a deal to join the party. How can a journalist join a party that is mired neck deep in mass corruption allegations? (The corruption scandal may also involve members of Habayit Hayehudi, as Channel 2 reports suggested Sunday.) What are millions of shekels -- a small fortune really -- doing in the safes and bank accounts of key party figures and close associates of Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman- On Saturday, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch received accolades for standing by police investigators in the face of Lieberman's accusations -- the latter accused the police of pure political persecution and discrimination against him. But then the fog came. Aharonovitch made another public statement, again praising police investigators, but also voicing puzzlement at the fact that the run-up to every one of the last elections involved a criminal investigation against Yisrael Beytenu. He said he did not speak to Lieberman (and I believe him) but he completely contradicted himself. Yes and no. Sweet and bitter. He praised the investigation but distanced himself from it. In a word: fog. One can only hope that the Israeli voters won't allow these insults to their intelligence to simply pass them by.
