From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
State comptroller says bloated government, politically motivated reshuffles led to dysfunction
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleAriela Karmel is a political correspondent at The Times of Israel. She previously reported for Calcalist and Haaretz. She holds an MA in Middle Eastern and African History from Tel Aviv University and a BA in Political Science from the University of British Columbia.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman warns that Israel’s government is unusually large and inefficient, with up to three times as many ministries as European countries, around half of which do not exist elsewhere.
Issuing a new comptroller report, Englman says that political considerations have driven repeated structural changes that undermine government effectiveness, disrupt public services and hamper efforts to rehabilitate the north.
The audit finds that successive governments have expanded in size despite repeated recommendations since 2011 to reduce the number of ministries. For example, while Israel had 31 ministries in 2024, Sweden, with a similar population and roughly 20 times larger size, had just 11.
Even during the ongoing war, a decision to examine closing superfluous ministries was largely never implemented, with Englman concluding that “political considerations and constraints ultimately outweigh the need” to streamline government operations.
The Finance Ministry recommended closing 10 superfluous government ministries in order to offset the strain put on the budget by the war in Gaza in December 2023 including the Settlements and National Missions Ministry, Jerusalem and Jewish Tradition Ministry, and the Heritage Ministry. To date, of the ministries included in the proposal, only the Advancement of the Status of Women Ministry has been closed.
The comptroller also highlights the scale of bureaucratic upheaval: between 2020 and 2024, no fewer than 76 changes were made, transferring areas of responsibility between ministries, with some functions moved multiple times. These repeated shifts, he says, weaken government effectiveness, erode institutional knowledge, and waste millions in public funds.
Englman singles out the government’s failure to rehabilitate northern Israel and the south following October 7 as “one of the most painful failures caused by the government’s conduct.”
“In less than two years, the government made several decisions to transfer responsibility between ministries and officials — even during a state of emergency and wartime,” he says.
The lack of a consistent government approach, Englman adds, contributed to fundamental failures identified in a previous June 2025 report, including the absence of a multi-year rehabilitation plan for the north and “the government’s inability” to return displaced residents and rebuild the region.
The Times of Israel Community.