Last week the Knesset's State Control Committee held three discussions on the findings from the State Comptroller's reports during the past few years.
The first discussion (27.2) was dedicated to the implementation of the defects which had arisen in the report regarding how the Israel Police deals with the possession of illegal weapons and shooting incidents in Arab society. Director of the Government Ministries Division, Yuval Hayu, presented the findings from the report, which indicated, among other things, that the rate of utilization of the budget for the plan for strengthening governance and the rule of law in the Arab sector had reached only 47%, and that the weapons seizure operations conducted by the Israel Police in 2017 and 2019 had not led to curbing the expansion of the pools of illegal weapons. The discussion was also attended by Etiel Malachi, Deputy Director Department P in the Division and one of the writers of the report.
The Police representatives told the Knesset members that following the publication of the report in 2021 many measures had been taken to fight the phenomenon. "Even if we take into account the 2022 figures", stressed Hayu, "it may be said that we are unable to get to the point of breaking the reality. There is concentrated effort, but without continuous and consistent government backup, the ability to meet this complex challenge is extremely limited".
The following day the Committee convened once again to discuss the State Comptroller's report on the Prime Minister's Office's engagement with the Coordinator for Captives and the Missing. The discussion was held on the Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers whose Burial Place is Unknown (7 Adar) and was also attended by the relatives of some of the captives and the missing.
Dganit Shai, Director of Department A in the Government Ministries and Institutions Audit Division, and Shir Geraffi-Cohen, an audit director in the Division, presented the report's findings. The Comptroller found, among other things, that for years the Coordinator for Captives and the Missing has acted without ever actually establishing the responsibilities, authority, or any detailed framework of the role; that the existing knowledge in the Prime Minister's Office in all matters pertaining to the handling of the matter was not handled in an orderly fashion - and that the quantity of documents in the Coordinator's possession pertaining to the work of his predecessors is minimal. One of the families defined to the Comptroller their meetings with the Coordinator as being "devoid of any content" and noted that he had not presented them with any "significant information" concerning the return of their family member.
"This is a sensitive and complex matter. Regulation of the actions in the matter on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Government is required", summed up Geraffi-Cohen.
"We have thoroughly read the State Comptroller's report about the way in which the State of Israel is under-acting in returning its war captives", said Leah, the mother of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin. "The report's findings are severe but even more severe is our bitter disappointment. Our Hadar has been in Gaza for eight and a half years already. There is an unwillingness and disregard by all the Government ministries here… When I said this, then its only Leah Goldin saying. Now, thank G-d, the State Comptroller has said it. We demand immediately, without any conditions, to act to return the boys".
"We have not received any information. We do not have any address on the part of the State, a party whom we can ask and receive answers", said Sha'ban, the father of Hisham al-Sayed.
The week of discussions at the Committee closed with a discussion on the State Comptroller's report on the maintenance of Amidar apartments, which was published in 2022. Tzachi Bublil, Director of Department G in the Social Welfare Audit Division, and Deputy Director of the Division Dan Naumenko, presented the findings of the report.
The Audit found, among other things, that approximately 75% of the apartments managed by Amidar had been built more than 40 years ago. Amidar defined 35 structures, among them 138 apartments, as being dangerous. 44 apartments were defined as not fit for habitation, but Amidar is not renovating them because there is no budget for this.
In approximately 92% of the Amidar apartments where a thorough renovation had been made, the cost of the renovation was lower than 55 thousand shekels - the sum which in Amidar's estimation is needed in order to carry out the proper day-to-day maintenance of the apartment. The Comptroller found that more than half of the tenants whose apartment had undergone a thorough renovation in the years 2018-2019 were already in need of additional repairs one to two years later. It was further found that approximately 5,700 households who were eligible for public housing are waiting for an apartment from Amidar - but approximately 39% of the apartments destined for habitation have been standing vacant for more than 300 days.
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