Government releases 2017-2018 work plan
The objectives of 26 government ministries for 2017-2018, which are coordinated by the Prime Minister's Office, are meant to provide a government progress indicator for the public. Several of the ministries want to fight anti-Israeli trends abroad and narrow gaps inside Israeli society, including in policing, housing and education.
The plans, which are coordinated by the Prime Minister's Office, provide the public with a blueprint of the goals of each ministry and how they are being implemented.
"The publication of government obligations reflects my commitment to the Israeli people," wrote Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "From year to year we are expanding the application of the principles of accountability and transparency in government work.
"This is in light of the perception that elected officials are routinely committed to providing accountability to the public on policy goals and the attainment of those goals. Therefore, at the end of 2017, we will publish the results of the implementation of these goals. I am confident this move will aid in policy implementation, streamline work processes and in reaching desired goals."
Prime Minister's Office
• Increasing the average implementation of government decisions from 60% today to 65-70% in 2017 and 70-75% in 2018
• Improving the absorption and assimilation process for Ethiopian immigrants – 25% increase in the amount of Ethiopian officers in the IDF and a general decrease in the negative attitudes towards the Israel Police. Today, 68% of Ethiopians believe police use disproportionate force against them.
• Increase in the amount of people with disabilities serving in the civil service
• Decrease in regulation by 25% by the end of the decade
• Enacting 80% of programs for finance, reconstruction and security activities and emergency services for Gaza border communities
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Increasing efforts against international anti-Semitism by advocating in parliaments, government ministries, security forces and Jewish communities
• Strengthening of cooperation with the United States
• Monitoring the Iranian position on the nuclear agreement
• Increasing the status, image and legitimacy of Israel in world public opinion, while also raising the Zionist narrative and fighting the Palestinian campaign against
• Prevention of anti-Israel initiatives at the UN and the prevention of anti-Israel moves initiated by Palestinians at the EU and European Parliament
Ministry of Justice
• Improving the quality of government legal services, especially in the realm of public legal aid for detainees, minors and the poor
• Closing of cases that have been deadlocked in the State Attorney's Office for a year
• Opening a common home registry, cancelling bank-direct mortgages without needing to come to the Land Registry and Settlement of Rights Department
• Upgrading computer systems
• Collecting NIS 22 billion in taxes in 2017
• Fighting the BDS movement and actions against Israel at the ICC in The Hague.
Ministry of Immigrant Absorption
• Simplifying bureaucratic procedures to improve access to information, improving interpersonal relations and immediately increasing aid to populations in need
• Employment assistance to immigrants
• Increase in public housing for immigrants by 1,700 units
• Increase the expected number of immigrants each year
Ministry of the Interior
• Expand regional cooperation
• Allocating resources to focus on equal distribution by establishing a fund to narrow gaps
• Strengthening local election processes to be held in 2018
Ministry of Social Equality
• Increasing the number of women serving in senior corporate and government positions from 12% in 2016 to 16% in 2017
• Reducing the wage gap between men and women in the government sector from 20% in 2016 to 15% in 2018
• Raising the proportion of local Arab authorities involved in economic development programs for minority populations
Ministry of Education
• Providing support programs to school with low matriculation rates
• Having at least 15,293 students taking the maximum allowable credits for mathematics in high school
• 160,000 students engaged in technological studies
• Increasing education in Jewish values, Zionism and democracy
• Improving access to opportunities and closing gaps between sectors such as among Arab, ultra-Orthodox and Ethiopian
Ministry of Transportation
• An 8% reduction in the amount of traffic fatalities
• Completion of the Acre-Karmiel rail line
• Examination of transportation possibilities powered by electricity, batteries, cables and natural gas
• Establishment of a research center for intelligent, autonomous vehicles
Ministry of Health
• Increase the volume of surgical procedures available for the public
• Decrease in infections in hospitals
• Reduction in consumption of high-sugar foods as well as sodium and saturated fat
• Reduction in rates of childhood obesity
• Decrease in the percentage of smokers in the population, especially the Arab sector
• Increase the number of nurses
Ministry of Public Security
• Lower crime rates in the Arab sector and south Tel Aviv
• Increase enforcement against illegal immigrants
• Reduction in illegal building and encroachment upon state land
• Reduction in illegal weapons
• Easing bureaucratic process for acquiring a firearm license
• Increasing the amount of traffic enforcement and recruiting more traffic officers
• Creation of a new application for reporting reckless drivers to police
• Recruiting 75 additional firefighters and 50 more fire engines
Ministry of the Environmental Protection
• Establishing a cyber unit responsible for protecting against cyber attacks on hazardous material installations
• Establishment of a national plan to decrease air pollution
• Increasing the number of inspectors in factories in the Haifa Bay
• Reducing the risk of importing ammonia
Ministry of Agriculture
• Examination of the possibility to cultivate hemp cannabis
• Lowering the price of water for agriculture
• Preparing a position paper on the future of agriculture by 2030
• Organization of a new model for foreign workers
Itamar Eichner, Roi Yanovsky, Ilana Curiel, Tova Zimuky, Omri Efraim, Shahar Chai, Asaf Zagrizek and Rotem Elizera all contributed to this report.
