By Pesach Benson • May 19, 2026
Jerusalem, 19 May, 2026 (TPS-IL) — A report published Tuesday by Israel’s State Comptroller found that more than 30,000 complaints were filed with Israel’s public complaints system in 2025, with 56% deemed justified — the highest rate recorded to date — highlighting systemic service and administrative difficulties across government agencies during a year marked by war.
Israel’s State Comptroller, the country’s independent oversight authority for government preparedness and performance, reviews the functioning of public agencies and ministries.
The report comes as Knesset lawmakers consider candidates to replace State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman, whose seven-year term ends in July.
In 2025, Israelis filed 30,366 complaints with the State Comptroller and Ombudsman’s Public Complaints Commission, a 41% increase from the previous year, according to the findings. Another 7,429 cases were resolved without a formal ruling. Wartime pressures, the report noted, further strained public services.
The findings point to widespread service disruptions, including long waiting times, unanswered calls, unclear administrative decisions, and delayed subsidies that left families paying full costs while awaiting eligibility determinations.
The Transportation Ministry (2,298 complaints), National Insurance Institute (1,581), Tax Authority (1,119), Population and Immigration Authority (994), Education Ministry (940), Israel Police (932), Health Ministry (687), Jerusalem Municipality (609), and Justice Ministry (550) were among the bodies with the highest complaint volumes.
Overall, 29% of complaints related to public service delivery, 19% to daycare subsidies, and 7% to education.
Subsidy Failures Drive Complaints Spike
The Ministry of Labor received the largest share of complaints, totaling 7,082 — an increase of 659% year-on-year. Nearly all were directed at its Division for Encouraging Parental Employment, which oversees daycare and after-school subsidy levels. Of the 6,931 complaints regarding the division, 91.1% were upheld, an unprecedented rate.
The report cited major operational failures, including an unavailable call center, delayed publication of subsidy criteria, and errors in determining eligibility. Subsidy guidelines for the 2024–2025 school year were published approximately four months after the school year began, forcing many parents to pay full fees without knowing their entitlement.
Additional issues included mishandling of applications from reservists (citizens called up for military reserve duty) and residents of communities near the Gaza border, repeated calculation errors in sibling-based subsidy rankings, retroactive cancellations without proper appeal mechanisms, and insufficient reasoning in administrative decisions. In some cases, online systems failed entirely.
Englman found that 211 complaints were submitted by reservists and 106 by residents of Gaza border communities, many relating to subsidy delays and registration problems. Around 80% of complaints from Gaza border residents were upheld, including cases in which government decisions granting preferential treatment were not implemented promptly.
Across all cases, complainants received approximately NIS 12 million ($4.1 million) in compensation and refunds. This included a NIS 20,000 ($6,800) relocation grant awarded to a resident of Kiryat Shmona whose home was damaged.
After visiting a Beer-Sheva call center in May 2025, Englman reported that it handled about 9,000 calls daily, with wait times ranging from 54 minutes to two hours. “The number of untreated requests and the volume of complaints received by the Public Complaints Commission and by the Labor Ministry point to a substantial failure in the call center’s ability to fulfill its purpose and provide proper service to Israeli parents,” he said.
The Labor Ministry attributed the problems to delayed policy approvals, court rulings, outdated systems, and a surge in applications. It said it had begun reforms including direct data sharing with the National Insurance Institute, updated subsidy rates, additional call-center staff, and AI-assisted tools. However, the Comptroller said problems persisted.
In correspondence with Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur, Englman urged immediate corrective action, including reopening service centers, improving response times, and ensuring timely subsidy calculations. Recommendations included modernizing computer systems, improving transparency, and strengthening appeal processes.
The report concluded that, despite partial improvements and increased funding, complaint volumes continued to rise into late 2025.
