After Oct. 7 Massacre, Israel Still Lacks Plans, Maps, Budgets, or Accountability

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman unleashed a blistering report Tuesday, excoriating the Defense Ministry, IDF, and National Security Council (NSC) for failing to address glaring gaps in protecting critical infrastructure from aerial attacks, deficiencies that persisted even after the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist massacre and the ensuing barrage of over 26,000 rockets and missiles from Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iran through October 2024. The audit, a follow-up to a 2020 report, reveals that none of the five major flaws identified five years ago, ranging from unmapped vital sites to absent multi-year fortification plans, were rectified by war's outbreak. "Until the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War, the Defense Ministry, IDF, and NSC did not correct any of the main deficiencies raised in the previous audit and did not advance the protection of certain critical facilities; even after the war broke out and despite the realization of aerial threats, they did not advance this issue, except for a few spot actions," Englman wrote. He rebuked the agencies: "The State Comptroller remarks to the Defense Ministry, IDF, and NSC on the failure to correct the deficiencies raised in the previous audit and examined in this audit."

The report, partially redacted by a Knesset subcommittee "to preserve state security," underscores systemic inertia: the Defense Ministry never fully mapped essential facilities in specific bodies it oversees, leaving no multi-year work plan, budget, or physical defenses despite "the risk of their being hit by aerial threats held by the enemy on a large scale." Englman highlighted ignored pleas: between 2019 and 2022, a certain entity repeatedly urged defense ministers for resources to shield its critical assets, but received no response. The IDF failed to share pertinent intelligence with the ministry, while the NSC, tasked with coordinating government, security cabinet, and subcommittee agendas, never elevated the issue to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the political-security cabinet, despite the facilities' national importance.

Even post-war, progress was "minimal": isolated fortification efforts and a December 2024 directive for a task force, but no comprehensive strategy. Englman lambasted authority overlaps: from 2019 to audit's end, responsibilities for certain protections shifted among the Defense Ministry's Procurement Director (Manhar), Planning Division, and National Civil Defense Authority (Rach"l), yet none assumed ownership or advanced solutions. "This gap caused decision-making failures and stalled progress," he noted. The NSC, despite air defenses' limitations, only convened a dedicated session after Netanyahu's intervention and a December 2023 plea from a key figure, yet no framework emerged. By December 2024, no thorough review of fortification needs for specific entities was complete, and the topic never reached cabinet level.

Funding feuds exacerbated the mess: the NSC, Defense Ministry, Treasury, and a regulatory body clashed on budgets, with the ministry claiming insufficient funds, while Treasury's Comptroller and Budgets Division insisted entities self-fund or tap ministry coffers. No unified policy on state contributions materialized, leaving one entity's plan unresolved a year after requests. Legislation lags too: 14 years after the Defense Ministry drafted an emergency law, it's stuck in preliminaries; a 2011 cabinet decision on national infrastructure protection excludes these sites, despite acknowledged needs.

Englman's recommendations are urgent: the Defense Minister must direct the ministry director-general and IDF Chief of Staff to map sites and craft a multi-year plan; clarify roles among Rach"l and IDF; finalize one entity's blueprint; elevate the issue to the political-security cabinet via NSC head; lead inter-ministerial work on optimal funding models; and push cabinet approval for legal frameworks. Netanyahu should monitor implementation. Amid the war's scars, 700 IDF dead, endless rocket alerts, these lapses risk catastrophe, demanding accountability to shield vital assets from terrorists' arsenals.