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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Israel
Index
The power of the Knesset to supervise and review government
policies and operations is exercised mainly through the state
comptroller, also known as the ombudsman or ombudswoman. The state
comptroller is appointed by the president upon the recommendation
of the House Committee of the Knesset for a renewable term of five
years. The incumbent is completely independent of the government
and is responsible to the Knesset alone (the state controller's
budget is submitted directly to the Knesset's Finance Committee and
is exempt from prior consideration by the Ministry of Finance). The
state comptroller can be relieved only by the Knesset or by
resignation or demise. During the incumbent's term of office, he or
she may not be a member of the Knesset or otherwise engage in
politics and is prohibited from any public or private activity that
could create a conflict of interest with the independent
performance of the duties of the office. The state comptroller,
although lacking in authority to enforce compliance, has broad
investigative powers and employs hundreds of staff members,
including accountants, lawyers, and other relevant professionals.
Since 1949, when the state comptrollership was created, three
individuals have held the office, with each having served for an
extended period.
The principal function of the state comptroller is to check on
the legality, regularity, efficiency, economy, and ethical conduct
of public institutions. The checks are performed by continuous and
spot inspections of the financial accounts and activities of all
ministries, the armed forces and security services, local
government bodies, and any corporations, enterprises, or
organizations subsidized or managed by the state in any form.
The state comptroller acts in conjunction with the Finance
Committee of the Knesset and reports to it whenever necessary. The
state comptroller may recommend that the Finance Committee appoint
a special commission of inquiry, but having no statutory authority
of its own it relies on the Knesset to impose sanctions on errant
bodies. The state comptroller's office is divided into five major
inspection units. The first four are concerned with ministries,
defense services, local authorities, and corporations; the fifth
deals with public complaints concerning government bodies.
Data as of December 1988
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