Following a High Court decision, State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman announced on Monday that he would investigate the government’s treatment of Gaza hostages and the assistance and support provided to their families.
The investigation focuses on the exhaustion of benefits, medical and mental health treatment, preparations for long-term care, and how the educational system in the country is treating the children of abductees.
While speaking at Tel Aviv University’s Business-Academic Club, the flagship activity of the Israeli Friends of Tel Aviv University association, Englman stated that “Israeli citizens had been entitled to receive answers about the failures at a much earlier stage.” He noted that amid criticism in every part of Israeli society – political, civilian, military – additional audits will be carried out.
“We began examining the core failures after gaining direct access to materials from the IDF and the Shin Bet,” he said. Receiving these materials is beneficial to contributing to advanced-stage reports, according to the State Comptroller’s office. Among these materials was the audit regarding licensing and security for the Nova festival in Re’im – a report which has been formulated over many months but still lacks the IDF’s role.
“The audited entities are expected to demonstrate openness to the audit process and a commitment to rectifying the deficiencies,” Englman added. He said that his office is “currently auditing the treatment of the hostages and the support provided to their families.”
This audit is focused on the treatment of returnees and their families, as well as families of current hostages.
Petition filed against Comptroller's Office
Englman also spoke of a petition filed against the Comptroller’s Office’s authority to conduct audits on the matter of October 7. “I do not accept an appeal from any state institution. We are a state governed by law. Even in the petition filed against the State Comptroller’s Office, we respected the High Court’s decisions in their entirety,” he stated.
“According to the State Comptroller Law, based on a report by the State Comptroller, the Knesset’s State Audit Committee may establish a State Commission of Inquiry... The only party that formally approached me to initiate an audit was the chair of the State Audit Committee,” Englman added.
“The matter of the State Comptroller’s authority to audit the failures of October 7 was also examined by the High Court of Justice. The judges dismissed the claims of lack of authority, and this matter is no longer in dispute. I do not accept any institution’s appeal against the State Comptroller’s authority. We are a state governed by the rule of law. Even regarding the petition filed against the State Comptroller’s Office, we fully respected the HCJ’s rulings, word for word,” he said.