State Auditor Says Israel’s Consumer Protection System Has Been Eroded

A State Comptroller report released Wednesday says Israel’s consumer protection framework has weakened for years, just as the cost of living and online fraud have become part of daily life for many Israelis. The report comes days after the government decided to dismantle the Israel Consumers Council and transfer its powers to the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority, a move meant to fix a fragmented system.

The biggest gap identified by the auditor is between the surge in complaints and the agencies’ shrinking enforcement capacity. Complaints to the authority doubled from 22,074 in 2022 to 44,612 in 2024. Complaints about online fraud rose about 86 percent, to 11,080 in 2024. Yet enforcement actions, including fines, administrative penalties, investigations and other tools, fell from 46 to 13, and administrative case openings dropped about 25 percent from 506 in 2022 to 386 in 2024. Although inspections increased, the report concludes, there were more complaints and less enforcement.

Collection of penalties was also weak. Between 2022 and 2025, businesses were fined about 37 million shekels, but only about 8 million shekels, 22 percent, was collected. The auditor said the low collection rate undermines deterrence, though responsibility for collection lies with the Enforcement and Collection Authority, not the consumer authority.

Much of the report focuses on the Israel Consumers Council, which it describes as barely functioning. Its budget was cut by about 25 percent, it has had no CEO since August 2024, no deputy CEO since 2018, and about half its statutory positions are unfilled. As of September 2025, its board lacked a quorum and had only three directors. Consumer complaints were taking much longer to handle, averaging 135 days in 2025 versus 80 days in the previous audit. The council’s Google rating fell from 2.2 stars in 2022 to 1.5, while its own surveys showed 2.9 out of 5.

The audit also found violations in food-price labeling, origin labeling for imported farm produce, gaps in credit-card fraud protection, and weak recall rules for products outside official standards. It said Arabic-language publications lagged far behind Hebrew, 48 versus 106. The authority said it is studying the findings, will examine all recommendations, and believes the merger with the consumers council could create a stronger single public body.