Israeli Local Leader Proposes Running Government Like a Business to Improve Efficiency

Nearly six years ago, the head of the Tzur Hadassah local council highlighted fundamental challenges in the functioning of Israeli governments, pointing to political motivations and the flawed notion that every ministry must be headed by a minister. This has led to an inflation in the number of ministries, including duplications of ministers and deputy ministers, which has hampered government operations both within ministries and in inter-ministerial coordination. Since then, three governments have served, with the situation worsening. The current 37th government operates 31 ministries with 33 ministers (including two ministries with two ministers each), alongside deputy ministers and ministers without portfolio. Over its long tenure, there have been 54 ministerial and deputy ministerial changes, frequent restructuring of ministries, and prolonged vacancies in key ministerial positions.

The author refrains from criticizing any specific government but notes that the current government's performance has not been optimal. Ahead of the formation of the first government after the "Sword of Iron" war outbreak, there is broad public desire for dramatic improvement in government functioning regardless of political composition. Various reform ideas have been proposed, from shifting to a presidential system to decentralizing powers regionally or reducing the number of ministries, but many are impractical or only address symptoms.

The author proposes a fundamental yet simple structural reform: adopting a corporate management model for the Israeli government. In this model, the political level would act as a board of directors composed of ministers representing coalition needs, responsible for setting strategy and policy, appointing and supervising a professional executive management. The executive level would consist of professional directors-general managing grouped ministries (e.g., economy, defense, society), coordinated by the Prime Minister’s office director-general. This clear separation would allow politicians to focus on policy and oversight, while professionals handle execution.

This model is practical, can be piloted in the next government without risk or cost, and reversed if needed. The author calls for immediate discussion and implementation of this approach to improve government efficiency and effectiveness.