Political Risk:
Moderate
Score:
60/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
42/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Formally, the government operates under the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) and is supervised by the members of the Parliament. The Knesset consists of several committees;…
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The Knesset debates or reviews defence policy, however, the attempts to influence policy through formal mechanisms are very limited. For instance, sometimes the budget…
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Although the Parliament is a formally a quite strong institution in Israel, its scrutiny is often underminded by representatives of the military or the…
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Q2
75/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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There is the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee with some formal mechanisms to conduct scrutiny over defence policy. It is one of the currently…
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The Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee is comprised of members with expertise in the defence sector, in particular ex Generals from the IDF, who…
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Israel is in a permant situation of threat due to its specific situation, location and context (e.g. Israeli-Palestinian Conflict), and has tensed relationship with…
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The Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee meets at least once a month, and issues, for example, budget amendments and recommendations. It issues amendments to…
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The Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee conducts long-term investigations on current activities, or it can commission an external body to do it (1). They…
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Ministries sometimes incorporate recommendations into practice, but not on a regular basis. There is not a lot of material related to this and recommendation…
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Q3
50/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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There are here and there some debates about the security strategy between the executive and legislative which the public can follow in the media…
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There is wide ranging discussion of the defence policy or security strategy focuses primarily on major threats (potential and existing), and level of defence…
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There are some formal public consultations with various experts from the entire political spectrum, many of whom are retired military or diplomats, on defence…
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Information and documents on the defence policy or security strategy are available to the public only in part or abbreviated form (1) (2). The…
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Q4
25/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There is no formal or informal policy or evidence of defence institutions have a policy of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing…
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CSOs in Israel enjoy protections from government interference, and are able to operate without intimidation from the government. There are no laws prohibiting the…
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There is no evidence that there is cooperations or that there are meetings between representatives of the defence sector and CSOs, in particular related…
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Q5
88/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Israel is a member to both the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) (1) and the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials…
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Officially, “Israel strengthens the Battle against Bribery and Corruption” (1). In a 2017 assessment regarding compliance with the OECD Convention, the Working Group commended…
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Q6
63/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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Defence issues are in high priority in Israel, and there are public debate among academics, journalists, opinion-formers, and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) about defence…
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As mentioned defence issues are major in Israel and therefore, the public debate is limited. The government can’t answer several classified issues. However, overall…
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Q7
63/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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Q8
83/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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There are some compliance and ethics units within defence and security and Ministry of Justice that are mandated to handle integrity and corruption in…
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Besides the State Comptroller, there are some institutions such as the National Security Council that can monitor and critise issues related to the defence…
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People who work within the units understand the corruption risks that are related to their institutions. They are able to identify and address some…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. There isn’t any specific data on the perception of corruption in the military. Yet,…
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Q10
33/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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There is partial assessment of corruption risks on a regular basis, but it does not clearly articulate risks for the ministry or armed forces…
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The last risk assessment was conducted by the Ministry of Justice over a period of two years and officially published in 2017 (1). There…
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Risk assessment findings may be used to develop an anti-corruption policy, however they are not used to regularly update either policy or practice. For…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
50/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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There is a process for acquisition planning in place, internal acquisition functions are separated, e.g. budget, commercial, and finance. There are some explicit connections…
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The public has only limited access to information about the process for acquisition planning itself. A lot of information are excluded from publication, or…
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Oversight functions that are mainly conducted by the Knesset and the State Comptroller assess performance, and the country’s long-term acquisition plans, but they fail…
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Q12
88/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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Q13
50/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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The Finance Commitee, the Defence Committee and the State Comptroller have formal rights of scrutiny of the defence budget and expenditures. However, they lack…
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The joint committee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee and the Finance Committee can review the defence budget and attempt to influence…
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Q14
50/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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Only some parts of the budget are presented in a disaggregated form and budgetary explanation are superficial. In most of the cases, the budget…
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Some parts of the approved defence budget are published, but not in detail and there is still evidence of oversight by other suitable authorities.…
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Information about the defence budget requested by citizens, media, and civil society is provided by the Ministry of defence, but only to a very…
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Q15
33/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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There are incomes from other than from central government allocation. Equipment sales for instance generate significant revenue. In 2020, the scope of Israel’s defence…
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There are mechanisms of scrutiny in place and administered involving a central government department such as the supreme audit institution. However, the internal audit…
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Public scrutiny of sources of defence income is extremely limited. No record of such scrutiny could be found in a review of media sources…
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Q16
50/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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The Defense System Comptroller inspects, audits, and advises the defense system, and updates the Minister, the Director-General, and the IDF Chief of General Staff…
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There is parliamentary oversight for sensitive issues and the legislature is given access to reports, although it is unclear what level of detail they…
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There is little publicly available information on the external scrutiny of the MOD Comptroller. However, the State Comptroller is charged with overseeing the work…
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Drafts of internal audit reports are reviewed by the relevant departments within the MOD, which also submit their comments with regard to its findings.…
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Q17
81/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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In addition to the oversight carried out by the National Security Council, the Accountant General and the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance,…
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The external audit unit is independent of the Ministry of Defence and reports to the Knesset (Parliament) as prescribes by the Basic Law. Section…
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The State Comptroller publishes external audit reports online. These include reports on audited accounts, oral briefings, expert advice, investigative work (1). External defence audits…
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The ministry addresses audit findings in its practices, but not regularly (1). However, while the Comptroller has increased the numebr of reports published in…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
92/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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Defence institutions are, by statutory or constitutional means removed from having controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation…
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There is no clear evidence of defence institutions involvement in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource exploitation in Israel. However, it should be…
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There may be isolated cases of individual defence personnel being involved in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource exploitation, but activity is illicit…
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This indicator is scored Not Applicable, as there is no clear evidence of defence institutions involvement in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource…
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This indicator is scored Not Applicable, as there is no clear evidence of defence institutions involvement in businesses relating to the country’s natural resource…
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Organised Crime
Q19
63/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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There is moderate likelihood of penetration by organised crime into the defence and security sector. Yet, there is no evidence of a direct link…
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The government seems to be aware of the possibility of organised crime in the defence and security sector, however its actions are not clear…
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Q20
83/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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There is a unit within the national police force that deals with organised crime and corruption in the defence services. It is called “Lahav…
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Lahav 433 is responsible for fighting corruption in the public and defence sectors, among others (1). For instance, they investigated former Israeli prime minister…
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Generally, cases that are related to corruption or other criminal activities are investigated and prosecuted through formal processes and without political influence (1) (2)…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
75/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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The Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance as well as the State Comptroller are designated to scrutinise the intelligence service’s policies, administration, and…
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The committee of defence and security has access to classified information and meet at least every 2 months (even more often) to review budget…
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Q22
67/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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Senior positions within the intelligence services are subject to basic objective selection criteria related to relevant experience and qualifications, however few details of these…
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In general, impartiality can be an issue due to links to the ruling party in the Knesset (e.g. favouritism within the political system) (1).…
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There is a full investigation of candidates’ suitability through vetting by external party for senior officials which also includes a hiring panel with security…
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Export Controls
Q23
38/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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Israel has signed up to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), but hasn’t still ratified it. (1)
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This indicator is marked Not Applicable as Israel has not ratified the ATT. Israel Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor signed the Arms…
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Upcoming arms exports are subject to parliamentary debate, but influence on decision-making is limited (1). The government depends on the parliament for all the…
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Lobbying in Defence
In 2016, the Knesset approved Basic Law (amendment no. 41), which determines, among other things, that lobbyists who attend Knesset committee meetings will have…
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In Israel, public officials in defence institutions are not required to publish or update records of lobbying meetings. Yet, they are required to publish…
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Israel has a mandatory registration system that allows public disclosure of a lobbyist’s identity, their clients, issue areas, targets, activities and financial inform. Article…
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Enforcement of lobbying regulations is the responsibility of the committee which grants lobbying permits. This committee has the right to suspend or revoke lobbyists’…
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