Israel’s State Comptroller, Matanyahu Englman, issued a sharp critique of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, holding them responsible for systemic failures in managing the home front since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023.
“Hundreds of thousands of residents experienced firsthand the failures of the Israeli government in managing civilian affairs during the Iron Swords war,” Englman wrote in a report published Wednesday, which evaluates government management of civilian needs during the conflict.
Field inspections conducted by the comptroller revealed significant deficiencies: shortages of personnel in critical facilities, a lack of psychological and emotional support staff, insufficient government representation at evacuee shelters, and delays in payments of grants and compensation. Despite the National Emergency Authority (NEA) rating home front preparedness as moderate to good, the government’s actual response fell far short.
Englman found multiple failures by Netanyahu, ministers, and senior officials across government offices. Unlike most recent audits, he explicitly named individuals responsible for the shortcomings and detailed the failures attributable to each. The human cost of these ongoing failures was borne directly by Israeli citizens, who desperately required support, while government decisions after the war’s outbreak failed to achieve their objectives due to an ineffective and hastily assembled operational structure.
The report notes that throughout Netanyahu’s long tenure—serving as prime minister for 13 of 14.5 years from March 2009 until the war—he did not use his authority to resolve the long-standing gaps in civilian emergency management, particularly those highlighted after the 2006 Lebanon war. Crucial powers and responsibilities for overseeing civilian aspects of home front management during wartime were never fully clarified or assigned.
Englman also referenced short-term prime ministers Neftali Bennett (June 2021–June 2022) and Yair Lapid (alternate prime minister and then full prime minister from June 2022–December 2022), noting that they too failed to address these gaps.
Regarding Gallant, Englman wrote that neither he nor previous defense ministers successfully clarified the status and authority of emergency bodies under the Ministry of Defense and the IDF—the NEA and Home Front Command (HFC)—for years. Consequently, these agencies failed to adequately meet civilian needs during the war. The report emphasizes that the NEA did not function as a national emergency body responsible for all civilian management during wartime. HFC, although well-resourced and tasked with civil defense, did not sufficiently support the NEA’s efforts to accommodate evacuees, and its representatives at shelter sites lacked clear authority.
On Smotrich, the report states that as head of the socio-economic cabinet, he did not exercise his powers to implement government-approved mechanisms for civilian management. He failed to report shortcomings back to the government to ensure an appropriate agency was tasked with these responsibilities.
The audit also criticized the senior bureaucracy in the Prime Minister’s Office, particularly former director-general Yossi Sheli, for running the directors’ forum without clear work plans or decision-making authority to address civilian needs during the war. Likewise, the Ministry of Finance bureaucracy, including administrative and legal staff, the salary supervisor, and the Civil Service Commission, failed to implement the government’s decision to operate the civilian command center.
Englman warned that decades of inaction since the Lebanon War had left Israel without clear authority or responsibility for civilian management during emergencies. Although a 2007 government directive assigned overall responsibility for home front management to the defense minister, the relevant powers were never fully granted to him or the emergency agencies under his oversight. Three previous comptroller reports (2015–2020) had already raised these gaps, yet no comprehensive solution was implemented.
The report identifies six main failures:
- Poor pre-war preparation and lack of a single leading authority for civilian management.
- Ineffective performance by emergency agencies under the Defense Ministry (NEA and HFC) and failure to implement the defense minister’s “overall responsibility.”
- Unstable and improvised organizational structures during the war, instead of a fixed operational framework.
- Limited activity by the leading political forum, the socio-economic cabinet.
- Ineffective performance by the directors’ forum led by the prime minister’s director-general.
- The National Security Council did not provide an integrated national picture of civilian needs during the war.
Englman concluded that these deficiencies created a fragile foundation for civilian management during wartime. He called for immediate corrective measures by the political echelon—including the prime minister, defense minister, finance minister, the prime minister’s office, the NSC, and the NEA—to establish a comprehensive and effective civilian management system for ongoing and future crises.
Responding on behalf of Smotrich, his office argued that Israel’s legal and bureaucratic complexities hindered real-time decision-making, even in urgent wartime situations. They noted that during the war’s first week, Smotrich authorized the transfer of 5 million shekels ($1.4 million) to ZAKA for body recovery, but implementation was delayed for months due to legal and bureaucratic obstacles.
Nevertheless, they stressed the minister’s leadership enabled extensive support for 200,000 evacuees, 300,000 reservists, and hundreds of thousands of small business owners, alongside managing the economy, mobilizing hundreds of billions of shekels for war, and spearheading reconstruction efforts. Smotrich’s office highlighted strong macroeconomic performance during the war, citing a resilient shekel, record stock market highs, thriving high-tech and foreign investment, low deficit, and rapid workforce reintegration.