State Comptroller Warns Local Councils Are Exposing Privacy Gaps

State Comptroller and Public Complaints Commissioner Matanyahu Engelman published his annual 2026 audit of Israel’s local authorities on Tuesday, warning of broad failures in how municipalities handle privacy, data security, welfare services, urban renewal and climate preparedness. He said the gap between declared policy and actual implementation can harm personal rights, public safety and national resilience, and called for a national change in approach with stronger oversight.

A major focus of the report was traffic enforcement cameras. Engelman said cameras used for parking and bus-lane enforcement can improve enforcement, but also threaten privacy, so they must be used cautiously and only in a limited and proportionate way. He found that Herzliya, Hadera, Ramat Gan and Binyamina-Giv'at Ada installed cameras without sufficient legal grounding. Some authorities kept images detailed enough to identify passersby, and some continued filming public space even after they stopped enforcing parking laws through the cameras.

In Ramat Gan, about 256,000 suspected offenses were deleted in 2024 without any recorded reason. Engelman said municipalities must use enforcement cameras fairly and proportionately. On welfare, he said the Oct. 7 attacks and the war made clear how vital social workers are, but the sector is facing a systemic recruitment and retention problem, with caseloads growing since the war began. He urged the Welfare Ministry to find ways to keep social workers and set a maximum caseload per worker.

The audit also found that 89% of local authorities were rated weak in cyber resilience, while cyberattacks on local government rose 1,460% between 2022 and 2025. It said about 20.5% of businesses still operate without a license, and warned that delays in revenue-sharing requests between authorities unfairly hurt poorer municipalities. On planning, Engelman said urban renewal is a strategic tool but earthquake reinforcement needs are still not adequately addressed.

Regarding climate adaptation, 87% of authorities that answered the comptroller’s questionnaire said they had not prepared an air-risk mapping. Only 15% of the city solar-energy potential is currently being used. The report also found shortcomings in checking and reinforcing prefabricated “Pal-Kal” buildings, creating safety risks in public and educational facilities. Engelman said the findings demand urgent action and coordination, adding: “כי בנפשנו היא!”