JERUSALEM, May 5 (JTA) — Israel’s comptroller has released a report critical of the country’s government and the army. The report, issued by Miriam Ben-Porat, charged the government with giving too much money to the fervently Orthodox community and the Israel Defense Force with failing to take effective action against terrorists and criminals. Issuing her annual report on the activities of the government and government-run agencies, Ben-Porat attributed what she called the preferential treatment given to yeshivas to political pressure on the government and the agreements Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed with the fervently Orthodox, or haredi, parties when he formed his government in 1996. Ben-Porat charged that billions of dollars had been wasted — money that could have been spent on improving education, transportation and creating more jobs. She also cited instances in which some yeshivas submitted lists of fictitious students in order to receive more funding from the Ministry of Religious Affairs. “They received better treatment than others and received much more money than others — money that in part could help serve the public on an equal basis and the good of the country,” Ben-Porat told a news conference Tuesday. In her annual report — Ben-Porat’s 10th and final one before her expected retirement later this year — she also pointed to widening social gaps and some instances of alleged corruption. Justice Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, who heads a ministerial committee overseeing the State Comptroller’s Office, said all of the issues raised in the 1,300-page report would be examined, including Ben-Porat’s criticisms of a number of political appointments. “This includes ensuring that every appointment by a minister or the government will only be based on professional criteria,” Hanegbi told Israel Radio. Regarding terrorist activities, the report noted that after a series of suicide bombings in 1995 and 1996, the IDF, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Finance Ministry had come up with a number of plans to increase security — none of which had been implemented. The report further said the country’s security measures had failed to prevent the infiltration of terrorist and criminal elements from the self-rule areas, and had also failed to block the illegal entry of Palestinian laborers.
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