Auditor's report: State of Israel's foreign system in bad condition • Unlike other offices - budget cuts and half of it is transferred to other bodies
Serious injury to Israel's foreign service \\ Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The State Comptroller's very difficult opinion on the state of Israel's foreign system. A comprehensive review by the Comptroller of the Foreign Ministry and other civilian government arms operating in the world shows a picture of chaos. Besides the Foreign Ministry, there are another 34 government agencies operating around the world. Some work in coordination with the Foreign Office while others operate independently and sometimes even communicate opposing messages.
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The report plunged into the depth of the Foreign Ministry's budget crisis, as a result of which the Ministry also entered into unprecedented crisis of activity. According to the data, most of the government budget for overseas activity (NIS 3.2 billion a year) is not directed at the Foreign Ministry (NIS 1.32 billion), but to the other entities. (1.9 billion). The foreign ministry's budget itself cut 14% in 2019, while the average budget of other government ministries increased by 5 percent. The comptroller notes that these processes have been going on for several years but peaked in 2019.
Photo: Image
The report also states that the Treasury landed cuts to the Foreign Ministry very shortly before the state budget was approved by the government, which did not allow for a regular discussion on how to streamline. The Treasury even decided on the cuts without examining their diplomatic and professional significance. The Foreign Ministry itself did not present indicators of its output, which is one of the reasons the Treasury demanded to cut its budget, the
auditor also notes that an important government decision of 2018 to regulate foreign operations was not implemented, and other resolutions, such as closing delegations around the world, were also not implemented.
"Cumulative Damage to Israel's Foreign Relations"
On the bottom line, the auditor shows that even before the Corona crisis, there was a very severe impact on the foreign ministry's budget that had a significant impact on the activity. The report cites a National Security Office warning in the Prime Minister's Office, which is a competing entity for the Foreign Ministry, which warned that "a significant reduction in the Foreign Ministry's activities could cause cumulative damage to the State of Israel."
The report also cites Foreign Ministry Director General Yuval Rotem's warning that the budget cut will lead to "freezing vital missions on Iran and terrorism vis-à-vis foreign governments and the public arena; serious damage to UN preparedness and activities around the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council; Damage to all government ministries and bodies close to the Israeli embassies; Serious damage to service to hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens abroad, especially during the holidays; Damage to efforts to encourage and assist countries to move their missions to Jerusalem; Having strategic and security derivatives. "
Foreign Ministry response:
"The State Comptroller's report on the Foreign Ministry is a professional and in-depth report that indicates a serious examination of the issues it deals with. Both in the field of the State's foreign system and in particular the Foreign Ministry's budget crisis.
The report clearly indicates that the most professional body , With the broadest view of foreigners is the Foreign Ministry. This is also the way of working in many countries around the world. The Foreign Ministry has a unique ability in the Israeli system, comprehensive and extensive knowledge and deployment all over the world.
The report points a blatant finger at the Treasury Department's budget wing for unprofessional conduct that is reflected in the decision to close Israeli overseas offices, which did not rely on a professional and regular examination, and even more so, on preparing a budget without any coordination with the Foreign Ministry staff who first saw The budget proposal was only three days before it was submitted for government approval.
The report points to a failure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs budgeting process in 2019. The resulting conclusion is unequivocal and emphasizes the need to increase the budget available to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the need to maintain a proper budgeting procedure for the Foreign Ministry in the future, which will also include consultations between the Treasury and the professional bodies. Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Yuval Rotem, said in response to the report: "I urge the finance staff to study every word and every page of this report, which presents sharply Implicit in the impact on the Foreign Ministry over the years and especially in the 2019 budget. The State of Israel needs a strong foreign ministry and excellence Funding to achieve this is an appropriate activity should be allowed to deal with significant political challenges we face. "
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said in response to the report: "In recent months when the State of Israel and the entire world are dealing with the Corona crisis, the Foreign Ministry has again demonstrated its importance to Israel's national resilience and centrality in the activities of the Israeli government in the world, whether returning Israeli citizens to Israel during the period. The crisis or activity in the entire world to bring the necessary equipment to deal with the epidemic. "
Prime Minister's Office: No necessary jobs were applied for
"For several years, the Prime Minister's Office will not be staffing two key executive positions at the headquarters." Thus, the State Comptroller states in a chapter dealing with administrative matters in Netanyahu's office. One standard that was not fulfilled is that of the VP who left office at the end of 2016. This standard, which is responsible, among other things, for managing the prime minister's dormitories, was not served for three years, not even temporarily.
Another standard not served is that of Ezra Seydoff. , Who was VP of assets in the Prime Minister's Office and suspended following an investigation against him and against Prime Minister's wife, Sarah Netanyahu. Saidoff's standard was also not approved for three years. The two powers were actually shared among other senior officials in the office, although there was no legal backing, The
report also states that the Prime Minister's Office has undertaken to make changes to the organizational structure, especially in the area of procurement, as approved by the Civil Service Commission. However, these changes have not been implemented.