Israel’s State Comptroller has issued a harsh report accusing the Ministry of Labor, Welfare and Social Services, led by Minister Yaakov Margi, of structural failures, poor coordination, and mishandling the civil manpower crisis during the war. The report says the ministry was unprepared for the country’s largest civilian emergency and failed on several fronts.
The comptroller’s main criticism is that a severe shortage of social workers had been known for months, yet no national emergency plan was put in place. According to the report, about 31% of all welfare departments nationwide, and 41% of those serving evacuees, collapsed under the staffing shortage. The ministry also failed to give frontline social workers adequate protection, mental support, or financial incentives while they dealt with hostage families, bereavement, and severe trauma.
A second major finding is the lack of a unified, real-time data system. The ministry did not synchronize its databases with the Home Front Command or local authorities, forcing social workers to manually and slowly map evacuees’ needs in hotels. The report says this government failure left some of the most vulnerable populations without timely therapeutic and material assistance.
The comptroller also says emergency response came at the expense of routine services for the weakest groups. Local departments were forced to delay or suspend critical procedures, including care-planning committees and enforcement of protection orders for at-risk children and women, because the ministry had not prepared workforce reserves. In addition, about 12% of departments, most in Arab and Bedouin authorities, functioned at average level or below, deepening inequality. The report calls for a structural reform, permanent welfare budgets, a real solution to social workers’ pay crisis, and a synchronized national data system, warning that without these steps the welfare system will keep deteriorating.
