Political Risk:

Moderate

Score:

60/100

Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency

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Q1 42/100

Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?

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Formal rights Score: 50 / 100
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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Effectiveness Score: 25 / 100
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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Independent legislature scrutiny Score: 50 / 100
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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Formal rights Score: 75 / 100
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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Expertise Score: 100 / 100
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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Responsive policymaking Score: 100 / 100
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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Short-term oversight Score: 75 / 100
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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Long-term oversight Score: 50 / 100
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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Institutional outcomes Score: 50 / 100
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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Scope of involvement Score: 75 / 100
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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Scope of debate Score: 50 / 100
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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Public consultations Score: 50 / 100
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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Transparency Score: 25 / 100
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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Policy of openness Score: 0 / 100
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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CSO protections Score: 75 / 100
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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Practice of openness Score: 0 / 100
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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Signatory and Ratification status Score: 100 / 100
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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Compliance Score: 75 / 100
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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Public debate Score: 75 / 100
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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Government engagement in public discourse Score: 50 / 100
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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Anti-corruption policy Score: 50 / 100
In the past 15 years corruption became a major issue in Israel. Therefore the fight against corruption in the public sector led to many…
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Effective implementation Score: 75 / 100
There is an action plan at the ministry level that reflects the institutional weaknesses in the system. For example on the page of the…
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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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Mandate and resources Score: 75 / 100
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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Independence Score: 100 / 100
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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Effectiveness Score: 75 / 100
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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Score: NS / 100
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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Risk assessments Score: 50 / 100
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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Regularity Score: 0 / 100
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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Inputs to anti-corruption policy Score: 50 / 100
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

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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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Acquisition planning process Score: 50 / 100
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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Transparency Score: 25 / 100
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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External oversight Score: 75 / 100
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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Comprehensiveness Score: 75 / 100
The defence budget is the highest one from all the other offices in Israel. There is a public debate on the budget in the…
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Timeliness Score: 100 / 100
The defence budget is set for approval as part of the overall state budget. The full details, like the classified information, is open only…
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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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Formal rights Score: 50 / 100
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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Influence on decision-making Score: 50 / 100
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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Proactive publication Score: 50 / 100
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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Comprehensiveness Score: 50 / 100
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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Response to information requests Score: 50 / 100
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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Transparency Score: 25 / 100
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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Institutional scrutiny Score: 75 / 100
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 Score: 0 / 100
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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Activity Score: 50 / 100
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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Enabling oversight Score: 50 / 100
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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External scrutiny Score: 50 / 100
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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Institutional outcomes Score: 50 / 100
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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Activity Score: 100 / 100
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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Independence Score: 75 / 100
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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Transparency Score: 100 / 100
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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Institutional outcomes Score: 50 / 100
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

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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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Legal framework Score: 100 / 100
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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Defence institutions: Financial or controlling interests in practice Score: 100 / 100
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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Individual defence personnel: Financial or controlling interests in practice Score: 75 / 100
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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Transparency Score: NA / 100
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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Scrutiny Score: NA / 100
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

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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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Penetration of organised crime Score: 75 / 100
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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Government response Score: 50 / 100
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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Existence of policing function Score: 100 / 100
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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Independence Score: 75 / 100
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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Effectiveness Score: 75 / 100
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

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Q21 75/100

Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?

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Independence Score: 50 / 100
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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Effectiveness Score: 100 / 100
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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Objective selection criteria Score: 50 / 100
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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Selection bias Score: 50 / 100
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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Vetting process Score: 100 / 100
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

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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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Signatory and Ratification Score: 50 / 100
Israel has signed up to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), but hasn’t still ratified it. (1)
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Compliance Score: NA / 100
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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Parliamentary scrutiny Score: 25 / 100
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

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Q76 44/100

Does the country regulate lobbying of defence institutions?

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Legal framework Score: 50 / 100
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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Disclosure: Public officials Score: 25 / 100
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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Lobbyist registration system Score: 75 / 100
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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Oversight & enforcement Score: 25 / 100
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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