State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman on Tuesday published a wartime audit finding that Israel entered the October 7 war without an updated, fully implemented emergency framework for the electricity and energy sectors, warning that key structural gaps remained unresolved years after formal government decisions were made.
The report, which examines preparedness in the electricity sector ahead of the war and its functioning during the fighting, is based on an audit conducted between August and December 2024. As part of the review, staff from the comptroller’s office visited the Israel Electric Corporation’s headquarters during a national emergency drill in July 2024, toured the Energy Ministry’s emergency headquarters in December 2024, and conducted site visits to a power station in Haifa and to a forward equipment depot in northern Israel.
Due to security sensitivities, the Knesset State Control Committee’s classified subcommittee decided that the report would not be tabled in full. Only portions were cleared for publication under Section 17 of the State Comptroller Law, which allows material to be withheld on national security grounds. The decision underscores the delicate balance between wartime transparency and operational secrecy that has accompanied several recent oversight efforts.
According to the published findings, the Energy Ministry had not updated the guiding principles for emergency preparedness and stockpiling since 2016, despite significant structural changes in the electricity market over the past decade, including the growing share of private power generation and the expansion of gas-fired capacity. The report states that emergency planning frameworks did not fully reflect the current composition of the sector at the time the war broke out.
One of the central issues highlighted in the audit concerns responsibility for emergency diesel reserves. A 2018 government decision transferred responsibility for purchasing, storing, and allocating diesel for emergency use from the Israel Electric Corporation to Noga, the system management company. However, the comptroller found that as of December 2024, the transfer had not been fully completed. As a result, critical responsibilities remained with the IEC even though its share of overall electricity production has declined in recent years.
The report also examines inter-agency coordination and the clarity of command structures during emergency conditions. While the electricity sector continued operating throughout the war, including during rocket and drone attacks on infrastructure in the North and South, the comptroller found that several preparedness gaps identified in previous years had not been fully remedied before October 7.
Gov't said electricity, energy sectors demonstrated resilience
In its response, the Energy Ministry said the sector demonstrated resilience during the war and maintained supply despite direct and indirect threats. The ministry cited a roughly NIS 1 billion “Time is Precious” program launched during the fighting to accelerate protective measures, procurement of spare parts, and equipment upgrades, including what it described as a 30% increase in strategic diesel reserves.
Alongside the electricity audit, Englman’s office also released a separate report examining the Foreign Ministry’s handling of apostille services – the certification of public documents for international use. That audit was conducted between June 2024 and March 2025.
According to the findings, between 2022 and 2024, the Foreign Ministry issued 854,000 apostille approvals, including 323,000 in 2024 alone. The comptroller identified operational bottlenecks, insufficient oversight mechanisms, and vulnerabilities that, in his words, create conditions for the emergence of intermediaries who charge the public additional fees and expose citizens to potential fraud.
The dual publication reflects Englman’s continued insistence that oversight must proceed even during wartime, though in recent months, the scope and timing of war-related audits have sparked debate within the security establishment and among lawmakers. Critics have argued that certain reviews risk revealing sensitive operational details, while the comptroller has maintained that delayed oversight can itself pose risks if systemic failures are not corrected in real time.
Tuesday’s report stops short of alleging a collapse in the electricity sector’s wartime performance. Instead, it draws a distinction between operational continuity during the fighting and the structural readiness that preceded it. The underlying message is institutional: Essential civilian systems functioned under fire, but they did so amid planning deficiencies that had been identified years earlier and were not fully resolved before the war began.
Whether the findings will translate into accelerated regulatory reforms, clarified lines of responsibility, and updated emergency doctrine remains to be seen. For now, the comptroller has placed on record that the war tested a system that had not been fully aligned with its own emergency framework – and that some of those misalignments were long-standing.