Here is a nugget from an editorial on the recent wave of factory pollution scandals that shines light on Israel's
protexia (nepotism) racket. While most Western countries have environmental regulations that apply to all companies,
this is the situation in Israel:
At present, each plant operates according to deals it reached with the authorities.
Who does a manufacturer hire to receive a license to dump toxic waste in a residential area? A
protexia guy, of course. This is the whole point of creating byzantine government regulations in most industries, which mysteriously end up getting overlooked if a company only hires a talented "fixer."
Here, for example, is the situation in just one industry:
The Israeli construction industry has been hampered by a maze of building regulations, standards and guidelines, many of which contradict each other. According to a recent report published by a commission charged with investigating the safety of public buildings, Israel has over 10,000 pages of building code. The commission also found that 12 government ministries were involved in setting construction guidelines and regulations.
Eventually, the stakes are raised so that the sweetest deals are given to the company headed by a
protexia wielder, who then hires his friends. The end result is lousy management of Israeli companies, who produce low-quality goods at high prices. They do manage to erect tariff walls to prevent competitive imports, while they endanger the public with rivers of toxic waste and new bridges that collapse. In some cases,
the new bridges collapse over rivers of toxic waste.
