Charles Levinson

The rape charges faced by Israeli President Moshe Katsav are the latest, and most serious, in a string of scandals to embroil the nation’s politicians, signalling the erosion of honest government to some, proof of a thriving democracy to others. "Today, more and more, civil servants have the notion that anything can be done as along as you’re not caught," says Sullam Eli, director general of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.

Ten-year-old Hossam Abu Hashish smiles proudly as he lays out a pile of rusted steel shrapnel on the floor of his single-room home in northern Gaza. "I have a good collection," he says. "But it’s not the best in the village. My uncle’s is bigger."
He holds up a piece of twisted metal the length of his forearm. It has edges sharp enough to cut glass.

The donor-starved Palestinian Authority may cease to function if government employees continue to go without salaries for much longer, the World Bank warned in a new report released on Monday. Civil servants will simply down tools and discipline in the ranks of the security services could well collapse if pay cheques are not forthcoming, the Washington-based body said.