Matanyahu Englman ( he, מתניהו אנגלמן; b. June 8, 1966) is the
State Comptroller and Ombudsman of the
State of Israel.He is also the first Vice-President of
EUROSAI
EUROSAI - European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions - is one of the seven regional working groups of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI).EUROSAI comprises 50 members: Supreme Audit Institutions of 49 co ...
, the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions. He is slated to become president of the organization in 2024.
Biography
Matanyahu Englman was born in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
to Binyamin (Robert) and Chasia Englman, and grew up in
Rehovot
Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu moveme ...
. His father was a physicist at the
Soreq Institute. His maternal grandfather was
Yehuda Kiel
Yehuda Kiel (Hebrew: יהודה קיל; born 1916, died 16 June 2011) was an Israeli educator and Bible commentator.
Biography
Yehuda Kiel was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Following the Russian Revolution, he moved with his family to Panevė ...
, who was awarded the
Israel Prize in Jewish Studies in 1992 for his commentary on the Bible. Englman earned a BA in economics and accounting and an MA in business administration from the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Englman is married to Avigail, a social worker, daughter of former Governor of the
Bank of Israel Moshe Mandelbaum. They live in
Nof Ayalon and have six children. Englman is a marathon runner who has participated in seven marathons.
Accounting career
From 1991-1999, Englman worked as a CPA for Fahn, Kanneh & Co. (a member firm of Grant Thorton International).
Public service career
From 1999-2005, Englman was Deputy Director General of the
Jerusalem College of Engineering.
In 2004-2017, Englman served as Audit Committee Director of
Joint Israel and its affiliated organizations. From 2005-2010, he was CEO of the
Shoham Local Council. In 2010, he was appointed Deputy Director-General of the
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology ( he, הטכניון – מכון טכנולוגי לישראל) is a public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technio ...
. In 2014, he was promoted to Executive Vice President and Director-General. In 2018-2019, he served as CEO of the
Council for Higher Education in Israel.
Englman was elected by the
Knesset
The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...
to the office of State Comptroller in June 2019, defeating
Giora Romm, the opposition candidate, in a secret ballot. He took office on July 4, 2019. Englman was the first non-judge to be elected to the oversight role in over three decades and described as having a less-activist, more conservative approach to the position.
In September 2019, it was reported that Englman re-approved Netanyahu's request to receive a 2 million shekel loan for his legal defense from an American businessman. The decision was criticized by the
Movement for Quality Government in Israel. Englman's predecessor,
Yosef Shapira had agreed to approve the loan if it was at market rates and there was no conflict of interest.
In 2020, following the recommendation of the
Attorney General of Israel, the State Comptroller's ministerial permissions committee denied Netanyahu's funding request, deeming it an improper gift to a government official.
Eurosai
At the EUROSAI Congress in Prague in April 2021, Englman was elected next president of the organization. In his acceptance speech, he pledged to “work in the spirit of the organization to promote auditing practices that are contemporary, relevant, professional, enterprising, progressive and innovative, for the public good." As vice president, of EUROSAI, he co-authored a report with SAI from other countries on the need for change in the global workforce, setting goals for the coming year.
Audit reports
In preparation for submitting his first reports in December 2019, Engelman announced a change of format to make the reports more accessible to the public. The reports are short and concise, focusing on ten main findings, and incorporate the use of infographics.
Englman published 107 reports in 2020 and 108 reports in 2021. These reports have covered a wide variety of topics, with a special emphasis on climate and cyber security. In 2021, Englman warned that a chronic shortage of skilled employees in the Israeli high-tech sector posed a strategic threat to the high-tech industry and Israeli economy. Based on his findings, he also claimed that Israel is unprepared for a climate crisis, which could lead to shortages of food and water, economic decline and public health issues.
In August 2020, Englman issued a report criticizing the
Mossad for growing far beyond its approved budget in recent years.
In October 2020, Englman recommended the end of
Shin Bet
The Israel Security Agency (ISA; he, שֵׁירוּת הַבִּיטָּחוֹן הַכְּלָלִי; ''Sherut ha-Bitaẖon haKlali''; "the General Security Service"; ar, جهاز الأمن العام), better known by the acronym Shabak ( he, ...
surveillance of citizens infected with
coronavirus in a position that was at odds with the policy of
Binyamin Netanyahu, although he avoided challenging the prime minister directly.
In his report on the performance of law enforcement and security forces during the riots in Israel’s mixed cities during
Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, Englman found major deficiencies in the handling of these incidents. His recommendations included teaching Arabic to
Israel Police
The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...
officers and hiring more Arab municipal works in the mixed cities. He urged the prosecutor’s office to take action against those involved in violating public order on racial or nationalist grounds and recommended a restructuring of intelligence sharing. He also announced a special audit into the stampede at
Mount Meron in northern Israel, where 45 people were crushed to death, but a month later called it off on the grounds that the
Israeli Supreme Court
ar, المحكمة العليا
, image = Emblem of Israel dark blue full.svg
, imagesize = 100px
, caption = Emblem of Israel
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, location = Givat Ram, Jerusalem
, coordinat ...
inquiry was sufficient.
Constructive Audit Reform
In September 2019, soon after taking office, Englman presented an outline for “Constructive Audit Reform” based on “up-to-date models of international audit.” Among the fundamental principles of this reform are adopting a statewide perspective; focusing on audit topics with social implications; performing surprise audits; wider use of tools like public questionaries, polls and sampling; employing advanced audit models such as those used in the United States and England; compiling report abstracts that emphasize the “top 5” findings and recommendations; greater used of computerized audit tools and datamining; introducing different types of audits; and enhancing the human resources skill mix.
The State Comptroller Presents an Outline of “The Constructive Audit Reform”
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englman, Matanyahu
State Comptrollers of Israel
Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
Israeli accountants
Israeli Jews
1966 births
Living people
21st-century Israeli civil servants