Israelis not ready to topple Netanyahu over corruption

Just before the 2009 election, the Labor Party candidate for prime minister, Ehud Barak, considered focusing his campaign on the fight against government corruption. These were the final days of the Kadima government led by Ehud Olmert. Olmert would soon be forced to resign because of the criminal investigations into his affairs.

Barak himself led the successful political maneuvering that resulted in Olmert's resignation. It was why he believed that he had a winning campaign. The problem was that in-depth polling showed that government corruption was not a priority for Israeli voters. The truth is that Barak didn't need any polls to reach this conclusion. In 2003, the country voted overwhelmingly for the Likud headed by Ariel Sharon (38 seats), despite the serious criminal cases associated with him, such as the Greek island affair and the Cyril Kern loan. Regardless, people believed that Sharon was the person best suited to steer the country through the security challenges posed by the second intifada (2000-2005). Criminal scandals were not enough to prevent his election.