Opening Remarks of the Ombudsman and the Head of the Office of the Ombudsman
This booklet presents the highlights of the special report on public service in public bodies.
By virtue of its authority, the Office of the Ombudsman serves as a recourse for people in their interactions with the various authorities, to protect their rights and exercise their right to receive appropriate public service. In accordance with the provisions of Chapter Seven of State Comptroller Law, 5718-1958 [Consolidated Version], the Office of the Ombudsman investigates complaints against hundreds of governmental authorities and public bodies, and in recent years has received some 20,000 complaints per year.
About a third of the complaints investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman each year concern the service provided by public bodies, including the manner in which the service is delivered and the tools for providing it.
The special report addresses the topic of public service delivered by public bodies. The importance of the report derives not only from the many complaints received on this issue, but also from the relevance of public service to all the bodies interacting with the public, regardless of their fields of activity. The expectation that public service will be provided fairly and appropriately, in a manner that conforms to norms of proper public administration and by reasonable and respectful means, traverses different fields and concerns all public service providers. Failings in the provision of service, even if they are not at the core of the service, are likely to constitute one of the main barriers to rights take-up, especially by more vulnerable sectors of society.
Since the Office of the Ombudsman annually investigates thousands of complaints about public service, it has a unique perspective on the subject and serves as a focal-point for knowledge relating to it.
The report enumerates a list of some 100 benchmarks for appropriate public service that arose from the investigation of 34,259 complaints by the Office of the Ombudsman from 2019 to March 2024. These benchmarks, which address various matters, generate a "road map" for every public body, for the improvement of the service that it delivers to the public. The creation of mechanisms for providing effective and reasoned responses, the shortening of time frames for handling inquiries, the coordination between different governmental sources and the exchange of information among them - all these will serve to streamline public service, reduce governmental expenditure entailed in the provision of service and increase public trust in the public systems.
As is reflected in the report, we believe that the public service user receives the service by merit, not grace, and that the service provider must as far as possible tailor the manner of providing the service to the needs of the service user, and make receiving the service easier.
Our scriptures prescribe, 'Let your friend's honor be as dear to you as your own' (Mishnah, Avot 2:10). Accordingly, public service providers should provide the same respectful, high-quality and efficient service that they would wish to receive themselves.
To complement the benchmarks arising from the investigation of the complaints reaching the Office of the Ombudsman, in February to March 2024 the staff of the Office conducted a survey vis-à-vis eight selected bodies to assess the service provided for the public at the service centers of these bodies, on their websites and by their call centers. The purpose of this was to enable the public bodies to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in the provision of service, in relation to other bodies as well, and to improve the service accordingly. The survey includes recommendations for improving the service, in accordance with the findings.
The war that has been imposed on Israel over the last year has highlighted an additional aspect of public service - public service in times of emergency. As said, the service survey was conducted in February - March 2024, at the height of the "Swords of Iron" war, while tens of thousands of people were displaced from their homes and in need of efficient public service to assist them in their special circumstances. The competence of the public sector to provide the public with appropriate service during these times increases national resilience and the ability of society and individuals to cope with the difficulties of the times.
The complaints received by the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the difficulties encountered by the public in receiving services during the first weeks of the "Swords of Iron" war were described in detail in a previous special report.
The failings disclosed during the first period of the war and the justified expectation of the public that public bodies assist them in times of crisis too, emphasize the need for all bodies to join forces in establishing a stable scheme for the provision of public service, not only in normal times but in times of emergency as well.
The Office of the Ombudsman invites the public to continue seeking its assistance in every case of inappropriate public service from public bodies, in order to aid the Office and public bodies in improving the quality of service delivered to the public.
Matanyahu Englman Dr. Esther Ben-Haim, Adv.
State Comptroller and Ombudsman Head of the Office of the Ombudsman
November 2024