From 'Terror of the Public Service' to an Emptied Institution: How the State Comptroller Was Buried | Dr. Nachman Shai
Dr. Nachman Shai describes the decline of the State Comptroller's office in Israel, from the days of Micha Lindenstrauss who 'terrified the public service' to Matanyahu Englman, a compliant comptroller appointed by Netanyahu. Shai argues that Englman neutered oversight, avoided personal accountability, and played into Netanyahu's hands by investigating the October 7 war instead of a state commission of inquiry. Now, in October 2026, the institution remains stripped of its powers.
Dr. Nachman Shai, in an opinion piece in Maariv, describes the process of decline of the State Comptroller's office in Israel. He recalls the days when the publication of a State Comptroller report would shake the public service, and audited bodies would go on the defensive. Shai presents Micha Lindenstrauss as the 'terror of the public service,' a comptroller who was not afraid to impose personal conclusions. In contrast, Matanyahu Englman, appointed by Netanyahu, was 'tailor-made' for the Prime Minister: he declared in advance that he would not impose personal responsibility or publish names, thereby neutering his reports. Shai argues that Englman's investigation of October 7 played into Netanyahu's hands, as it filled the void of a state commission of inquiry, but the comptroller lacks the authority to investigate the military and political moves that preceded the war. The High Court rejected the attempt to turn oversight into an investigation. Now, in October 2026, after the appointment of Michael Ravilo failed and the vote on a new comptroller was delayed, Israel is left without a State Comptroller at all.