The state comptroller said in an interview published Thursday morning that “since the publication of the report on the PM’s residence, the prime minister has stopped talking to me, does not say hello to me, and does not even speak with me on the phone, but I do not hold a grudge against anyone,” he said.

According to him, “there was no practical possibility of exerting pressure on me, not even from the Prime Minister’s Office, but the reports influenced the relationship.

He told Maariv that “one day during the preparation of the PM’s Residence report, he called me at home and roared with anger.” Those who heard the conversation, the director-general of the ministry, said in response to Netanyahu that he could not speak about the comptroller in such a fashion, and since then, Shapira says, “he ignores me and the future discussions on the matter were limited to business.”

In response to the question of whether Israel is a corrupt country, the comptroller replies: “Israel is not a corrupt country, but if we go down to details, the state has not yet internalized the foundations of democracy.”

“We are still acting as if we were in the Palmach period. The phenomenon creates a sense of community of shady dealings in the public and it permeates politics as well.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)