State comptroller says Israel’s foreign service badly underfunded, uncoordinated

A report released by the State Comptroller charges that Israel’s foreign policy apparatus is woefully underfunded and uncoordinated, and calls for reforms that would centralize the nation’s diplomatic activities.

In addition to the Foreign Ministry, there are over 35 other governmental agencies that deal with international relations. The report says this frequently leads to situations in which the Foreign Ministry and other bodies deal with the same matters vis-a-vis the same interlocutors abroad, without so much as informing each other of the fact.

“Although cooperation and coordination between the Foreign Ministry and the other foreign agencies is necessary to improve the government’s work in the international arena, in reality the government of Israel has difficulty promoting such coordinated activities,” the report states.

“In the current situation, governmental activity may only reflect the interests of the party leading it. This reality does not promote the government’s goals and policies in the international arena.”

— Raphael Ahren