Back-
State Comptroller and Ombudsman presents Annual report to Knesset Speaker
On 25 June 2024, "National Ombudsday", the State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel Mr. Matanyahu Englman presented to the Speaker of the Knesset (Israeli parliament) Ombudsman Annual Report 50 for the year 2023.
The year 2023 was a record year in terms of the number of complaints received by the Office of the Ombudsman. 22,356 complaints were received, as compared with 20,938 in 2022. 43% of the complaints were found justified or were rectified without the need for a ruling by the Office.
With regard to the financial implications of the Ombudsman's decisions, in 2023 the complainants who had turned to the Office, and others who had been affected by the decisions of the Office, received in total NIS 33.4 million.
During the period 7.10.23 to 31.12.23, the Office of the Ombudsman received 1,627 complaints relating to the emergency situation existing in Israel since the brutal events of 7 October 2023. The year 2023 saw a surge in the number of complaints filed by residents of the South and the North, who have been most affected by the crisis.
In one case, an elderly woman who is hard of hearing was evacuated from her home in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona and during the evacuation lost her hearing aid. The woman approached the team of the Office of the Ombudsman that was visiting the hotel to which she had been evacuated and complained about the lack of response from the health services to her request for a new hearing aid. Following the intervention of the Office, which informed the health services that it must take urgent measures to provide the complainant with a hearing aid - especially during these complex times in which she has been displaced from her home and is in an unfamiliar environment - the complainant was supplied with a new hearing aid.
Since this is the 50th annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman, a special chapter has been dedicated to the history of the annual reports presented by the Office since its inception in 1971, with examples of some of the earliest complaints filed with the Office.
Kindly refer to the download section to read the Summary of the Annual report in English.
Source: State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel
