State Comptroller and Ombudsman Matanyahu Englman met last week (Wednesday November 1, 2023) with evacuees from Be'eri, Sderot and Magen staying at hotels at the Dead Sea. Comptroller Englman listened to their claims regarding the conduct of government ministries and ministers, in particular on the issue of the lack of an economic plan, which adds to the uncertainty that the evacuees feel. It was brought up that the education system is in the initial stages of being organized, along with the need to arrange how mental health is addressed. In this context, Comptroller Englman met with the mayor of the Tamar Regional Council, Nir Wagner. The next day (November 2, 2023) he visited the Magen David Adom headquarters in Kiryat Ono and met with Director General Eli Bin and his staff.
It is important to note that the gaps raised by the evacuees at the Dead Sea are similar in essence to those raised in all of the tours that the comptroller has held since the beginning of the war, although in certain areas it is evident that the various government ministries have started to provide services. The most significant gap is the provision of education, health and welfare services in a tourist region that is not set up to provide these services for a population of 13,000.
Since the outbreak of the war, the comptroller has toured most of the frontline cities and communities in southern and northern Israel, Soroka and Barzilai hospitals, the Shura army base, and hotels where evacuees are staying in Eilat, Tiberias, the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. Evacuees from the communities Nir Oz, Kerem Shalom, Nir Yitzhak, Ein HaShlosha, Netiv HaAsara, Nirim, Reim, Sderot, Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi, Shomera, Tkuma, Dafna, Malkia and Yiron are staying at these hotels. The evacuees staying at the Dead Sea hotels are from Be'eri, Sderot and Magen.
Comptroller Englman has also visited Be'eri, Reim, the Eshkol Regional Council, Netivot, Ashkelon, the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council, Be'er Sheva, the Merhavim Regional Council, Kiryat Shmona, Ma'alot-Tarshiha, and the Ma'ale Yosef, Upper Galilee, Mateh Asher, Mevo'ot HaHermon, Emek HaYarden and Tamar Regional Councils.
Comptroller Englman said that "The Israeli government must urgently arrange the provision of economic support to hundreds of thousands of evacuated citizens. The various government ministries must complete the provision of services – each in its areas of responsibility – in order to enable Israel's citizens to have perseverance during the war and in order to allow the combat soldiers to fight in Gaza and in the north, knowing that the home front is well taken care of."
