In his annual report published today, State Comptroller and Public Complaints Commissioner Eliezer Goldberg determined that former Governor of the Bank of Israel Jacob Frenkel unlawfully received hundreds of thousands of shekels when he resigned his position.
Frenkel demanded and received refunds and payments not given to his predecessors, with the approval of a "senior official" of the bank, who was a Frenkel subordinate. Goldberg did not state whether the state should demand that Frenkel, who received the Israel Prize last Independence Day, return the money.
”With all due respect to Jacob Frenkel, a public figure who deviates from the legal restrictions on salary and other benefits thereby damages his ability to influence the public,” Goldberg said today, adding to the criticism voiced in the his report.
In the report's two main sections, Goldberg harshly criticizes the neglect of infrastructures for minorities and the unsuccessful of handicapped persons. Another key section concluded that privatization was failing because of the absence of planning, the failure to solve structural problems, faulty supervision of the Government Companies Authority, and frequent changes of minister.
Goldberg said the aid to Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Tower Semiconductor (Nasdaq: TSEM) was given without a thorough examination of its economic feasibility. He also found that the Ministry of Religious Affairs is still financially supporting yeshivas (Jewish religious academies) with no real examination of the number of students learning there. The reported also cited inadequate functioning on the part of the Registrar of Nonprofit Organizations.
The State Comptroller also stated that police fraud investigations were unprofessional and violated suspects' rights.
The Income Tax commissioner was also criticized, among other things in high-tech taxation and taxation of football (soccer) teams. The report revealed that 8% of vehicles in Israel are not properly insured, and said that faults discovered in the Israel Standards Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Institute of Plant Protection.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on April 29, 2002