From the treatment of the dangerous buildings to coping with the phenomenon of domestic violence: The State Comptroller and Ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman, is publishing the annual audit report of the local government for 2025
On July 23rd, 2025, the State Comptroller and Ombudsman, Matanyahu Englman, published the annual audit report on local government. The report encompasses defects in a series of subjects, including those where an even urgent need has arisen to rectify them, following the missile attack from Iran last June.
Table of Contents
Conduct in emergencies and the Swords of Iron War
- Treatment by the local authorities (that were not evacuated) of special populations during times of emergency
- Activity of the Educational-Psychological Service for an emotional and mental response in routine and during the Swords of Iron War
- Manpower during emergencies at the local authorities – the Swords of Iron War
- Response to inquiries and complaints from the public at the local authorities in routine and during the Swords of Iron War
- The local authorities' preparation for fires – follow-up audit
Social audit
- Treatment by the social services departments of youth at risk
- Coping with the phenomenon of domestic violence – follow-up audit
Morality and good governance
The public space
- Shading the municipal public space
- How the local authorities are coping with wild boars and jackals within their jurisdiction
- Refuse disposal and burial in the local authorities – follow-up audit
- The local authorities' treatment of dangerous buildings – follow-up audit
- The supply of electricity in the Druze local authorities in the Golan Heights – follow-up audit
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810,000 apartments in danger
"Even after we warned again and again – the Israeli government does not internalize the danger latent in the 810,000 apartments that are not earthquake resistant", said Comptroller Englman upon the publication of the follow-up audit on the local authorities' treatment of dangerous buildings.
"The Iranian missiles in Operation Rising Lion demonstrated more than anything the gap between old buildings and buildings complying with the standard. It is estimated that only 10% of the apartments requiring reinforcement have been approved for the urban renewal programs", added the State Comptroller, who during the course of the operation toured with his staff in neighborhoods across the country that had been hit in the Iranian attack. "This is an additional and critical flag raising for a government that is committed to the formulation of practical plans for reinforcement of the buildings and not to wait for the next state of emergency, whose outcome is liable to be a whole lot more serious".
Failure in preparedness for fires
An additional report, which presents severe defects, deals with the local authorities' preparedness for fires. "33,500 fires that broke out during 2024 on the one hand, and the fact that the government budgeted for the establishment of buffer zones in just nine out of 81 regions at the highest risk level on the other hand – indicate a failure in the State of Israel's preparedness for outbreaks of fires", said Comptroller Englman. "The fire last Independence Day was a prominent warning signal. We were just a step away from an enormous disaster. The Prime Minister, the Minister of National Security and the Minister of Interior must learn the lessons and arrange for the preparedness for fires of all bodies".
"We must not stand idly by"
According to data published by the State Comptroller, one third of all women murdered in Israel from 2022 to 2024 were murdered by their partners. The number of cases of violence grew during the Swords of Iron War: "According to a survey conducted during the war, 146,000 experienced serious violence from their partners. These are figures that compel the Israeli government to act more intensively to rectify the defects. We must not stand idly by against the phenomenon of domestic violence".
The audit showed that only about 10% of the prisoners who were imprisoned for domestic violence offenses were integrated into rehabilitation programs after their release". Comptroller Englman called upon the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs to advance joint thinking with all the treatment and law enforcement agencies concerned – the Ministry of National Security, the Israel Prison Service and the Prisoner Rehabilitation Authority – in all matters pertaining to the methods by which an appropriate response will be provided for the highly dangerous prisoners serving time for domestic violence offenses.
Emotional and mental response during emergencies
The audit report on local government examined the functioning of the local authorities also from additional aspects concerning the state of emergency prevailing since October 7. Thus, for example, the treatment of special populations by authorities that had not been evacuated during the war. "When 70% of the residents belonging to special populations do not receive a response from the local authorities during the war, and when 69% do not know where the protected spaces that they can go to are located – this requires those authorities to conduct a thorough examination, simultaneously with the intervention of the Ministry of Interior. During difficult times, in particular, we are under a stronger obligation to support the special populations", said Comptroller Englman.
In his speech, the Comptroller also related to the report that examined the activity of the Educational-Psychological Service in emotional and mental response during routine and during the Swords of Iron War: "The war also demonstrates the importance of the Educational-Psychological Service, in particular during times of emergency. The fact that more than 61 percent of parents to children with difficulties did not apply to receive service at all – most of them because they were simply unaware of it – compels the local authorities to reinforce the circulation of information to the public and this important service".
"The Ministry of Education determined the standardization of the Educational-Psychological Service 35 years ago and it totals one psychologist for every 1,000 students in grades 2-12. Consequently, the waiting time – an average of 55 days for the initial meeting – is unacceptable. The Ministry of Education must customize the scope of manpower employed in the Educational-Psychological Service to the requirements in the field, determine standards for the physical and digital environment where the educational psychologists operate, while placing special emphasis on the development of synchronized and customized information systems which will allow us to obtain a reliable picture of the state of the service in Israel".
