State Comptroller Justice (ret.) Joseph Shapira submitted the last annual report of his tenure to Speaker of the Knesset MK Yuli-Yoel Edelstein (Likud) on Monday. The report included the findings of the inspection of government offices and other bodies that were audited in 2018.
 
The report deals with a host of issues, including the protection of privacy in databases, the State’s handling of sex offenses against minors, Israel Police’s system of prosecution and cyber defense.
 
Speaker Edelstein mentioned the passing last week of former state Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, noting that during Lindenstrauss’s term he served as an MK on the State Control Committee. Addressing the report, Speaker Edelstein lauded Shapira’s “thorough work” and said the report deals with crucial issues, such as Israel Police’s handling of property offenses and the fact that people do not turn to the police after their homes have been broken into due to their lack of faith in the police’s ability to handle complaints. “The safety of the citizens must be [preserved] in the most basic sense of the word,” Speaker Edelstein remarked.
 
Another importing conclusion of the report, Speaker Edelstein said, is that government offices and their supporting units do not properly implement the government’s decisions pertaining to cyber defense.
 
“I am certain that the State Control Committee, once it’s re-established [in the 21st Knesset], will promptly deal with all the issues in the report in a thorough manner, as it has always done,” he stated.
 
On the occasion of the end of Shapira’s term in a few months, Speaker Edelstein presented the State Comptroller with a special edition Bible published by the Knesset as part of its 70th anniversary celebrations.
 
Shapira noted that the report includes 40 chapters with the findings of the inspection of government offices and public bodies. He also praised the Knesset for the “fruitful cooperation during my tenure.”