IsraCampus.Org.il

A panel of people appointed by Labor Party Minister of Education Yuli Tamir, all of whom had personal ties to the Israel Democracy Institute and had received money from it, decided to award this year's Israel Prize to - (drumroll) - the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). The IDI is a leftist political SWAT team, promoting the Left's agenda.

Meanwhile, a scoop in Haaretz on April 2 reveals that the Israel Democracy Institute (http://www.idi.org.il/sites/english/Pages/homepage.aspx), supposedly an institution favoring accountability and fiscal responsibility in government, is a fever swamp of self-enrichment and fiscal irresponsibility. The President (CEO) of the IDI is leftist Dr. Arik Carmon, whose compensation package is 119,000 shekels per month or 1.43 million shekels per year. That is much MUCH larger than what the Prime Minister of Israel earns.

In recent days Tel Aviv University has been under vicious media attack for handing out to its senior officials grossly bloated salaries that were ONE THIRD OF WHAT CARMON PAYS HIMSELF!!!! A full professor in Israel earns about a fifth of what Carmon gets. Between 2004 and 2007 Carmon was paid even more than that! And recently he was awarded a new 15% raise that has not yet gone into effect. After all, like those mafiosis in Godfather III, he just wants to wet his beak a little.

Other fat "salaries" for other people are also paid by the IDI. The IDI's web site is kvelling about it getting the Prize, but does not mention anywhere the media scoop about Carmon's beak wetting.