State Comptroller Finds Major Safety and Oversight Gaps in Israeli Daycare Centers

More than four years after responsibility for daycare centers for toddlers shifted to the Israeli Ministry of Education, significant deficiencies remain in their supervision, according to a State Comptroller report published on June 30, 2026. While the report by Comptroller Matanyahu Englman notes some improvement compared to a 2022 review conducted shortly after the ministry took over, critical issues persist.

The audit, conducted in October 2025, found that the Ministry of Education still lacked a complete list of daycare centers operating without licenses, which is illegal for facilities with more than seven children. Although the ministry issued an internal procedure to identify unlicensed centers after the audit, it has not released data on how many toddlers are currently in unregulated care. Israel has approximately 212,000 toddlers enrolled in licensed daycare out of over 500,000 in the age group. Experts estimate around 100,000 children attend unlicensed facilities.

The report also highlights insufficient inspection frequency: about 14% of centers inspected had no visits by ministry supervisors in the past year, and 40% had only one visit annually. Although the supervisor-to-center ratio improved from one supervisor per 200 centers to one per 80 on average, some districts remain severely understaffed, such as Tel Aviv, where one supervisor oversees nearly 290 centers, resulting in 19% of centers there receiving no supervisory visits.

Most concerning are serious safety violations found in over half of the inspected centers, including electrical, structural, and playground hazards. Despite licensing requirements mandating safety certifications, more than half of the centers failed to present the necessary approvals to inspectors. The Comptroller concluded that the ministry's safety oversight system is ineffective and lacks proper follow-up on correcting hazards, placing toddlers at significant risk.

Prior to 2021, there was no formal supervision of early childhood frameworks except for certain subsidized programs. The 2021 supervision law introduced mandatory reporting and oversight for private centers with seven or more children, coinciding with the transfer of responsibility to the Ministry of Education after years of shifting oversight among various ministries. The report calls on the ministry to establish clear inspection frequency standards to ensure optimal care and safety for toddlers in daycare centers.