State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman warned Tuesday that Israel’s government is unusually large and inefficient, with up to three times as many ministries as European countries, around half of which do not exist elsewhere.

Issuing a new comptroller report, Englman said that political considerations have driven repeated structural changes that undermine government effectiveness, disrupt public services and hamper efforts to rehabilitate the north.

In a report examining the structure of Israel’s government, Englman found that Israel’s government “is characterized by a large number of ministries compared to the rest of the world, and by frequent changes — the opening and closing of ministries and the transfer of authorities between them.”

The audit found that successive governments have expanded in size despite repeated recommendations since 2011 to reduce the number of ministries. For example, while Israel had 31 ministries in 2024, Sweden, with a similar population and roughly 20 times larger size, had just 11.

Even during the ongoing war, a decision to examine closing superfluous ministries was largely never implemented, with Englman concluding that “political considerations and constraints ultimately outweigh the need” to streamline government operations.

The Finance Ministry recommended closing 10 superfluous government ministries in order to offset the strain put on the budget by the war in Gaza in December 2023, including the Settlements and National Missions Ministry, Jerusalem and Jewish Tradition Ministry, and the Heritage Ministry. To date, of the........

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