State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss presented to the Knesset on Tuesday recommendations aimed at protecting employees who expose government corruption. The Comptroller drew up the document at the behest of the Knesset State Control Committee following a series of incidents in which whistle-blowers were dismissed from their 
Lindenstrauss suggested reinforcing existing laws and regulations protecting whistle-blowers.
positions allegedly in retaliation for their actions.
Lindestrauss wrote to the Knesset committee that whistle-blowers are often ostracized by their colleagues, noting that even a past president of Israel refused to shake hands or take a picture with a whistle-blower. The president had justified his sanctions on the individual in question "so as not to encourage tattling," the Comptroller wrote.
To combat that attitude towards government employees who expose corrupt officials, Lindenstrauss suggested reinforcing existing laws and regulations protecting whistle-blowers who suffer retaliatory discrimination or dismissal.
"Past experience shows that the problem of attacks on those who expose acts of corruption at their place of employment has yet to be completely resolved," Lindenstrauss wrote. "Legislation and public support succeed in protecting the whistle-blower only in rare cases, because even when the acts of exposed corruption is proven, it is very rare that [the whistle-blower] wins the battle. The situation of someone who innocently blows the whistle on corruption but is unable to prove that his claims are justified is all the more serious."
As one form of temporary assistance to protect whistle-blowers, Lindenstrauss encouraged the practice whereby the Public Complaints Commissioner may intervene to prevent summary dismissals. Lindenstrauss also noted that the State Comptroller Law empowers the Comptroller to intervene on behalf of whistle-blowers suffering for their acts of good citizenship; however, he suggested enacting amendments that would reinforce those powers to include more effective investigation.
Lindenstrauss' recommendations included extending the legal protection of whistle-blowers to those employees not currently included in existing laws, as well as legislating legal protection for those who expose inappropriate behavior - and not just corruption - by public officials.
Whistle-Blowers are 'the Commandos of Public Service'
Chairman of the Knesset Control Committee, Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) praised the State Comptroller's report, adding, "It pains me to see that sometimes the whistle-blowers are delegitimized instead of those who are engaging in the actual corruption." He called those who expose government corruption "the commando forces of the public in the service of clean government."
MK Orlev said that those combating corruption must be granted the heightened protection outlined in the Comptroller's report. "They are exposed to many dangers including ostracism and being fired, and only a select number of special people are able to stand up to that," he said.
The Knesset anti-corruption lobby, headed by Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union), praised the State Comptroller, saying, "The [Lindenstrauss] report outlines a proper course for protecting [whistle-blowers] and presents additional legal tools to be used in their defense."
MK Eldad said he plans to present the guidelines delineated by the State Comptroller as legislation in the near future. He also intends to work with the anti-corruption lobby to change the public perception of those who expose corruption, calling them "the main
State employees who exposed political corruption alleged that they were dismissed from their jobs in retaliation.weapon" in the fight for clean government.
The Comptroller's report on protecting whistle-blowers was filed against a background of two recent cases in which state employees who exposed political corruption alleged that they were dismissed from their jobs in retaliation.
Dr. Yaron Zelicha, the Finance Ministry's former Accountant-General, testified to police that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert attempted to change the terms of the sale of Bank Leumi for the benefit of two cronies. Current Finance Minister Roni Bar-On attempted to cut short Zelicha's term in office, because, Zelicha claims, he blew the whistle on Olmert. State Comptroller Lindenstrauss intervened to prevent the dismissal, but now Zelicha himself is under investigation by the Civil Service Commission.
Making a similar claim to that of Dr. Zelicha, Maayan Agam, a Histadrut labor union employee, filed a suit in October asking a Tel Aviv court to issue a temporary protection order allowing her to keep her job. Agam was recently fired after exposing several cases of corruption within the Histadrut over the past two years, including the case against former Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson.
Agam claims that Hirschson orchestrated her dismissal and, before she was fired, used his ties within the agency to disrupt her ability to work. She is requesting an injunction and NIS 500,000 in damages.