Israel | New Director for the Ombudsman’s Office

The State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel, Judge (Ret.) Joseph H. Shapira, has selected Dr. Esther Ben-Haim, or Esti as she is called by her peers, to be the new Director of the Ombudsman’s Office. Her nomination been approved by the State Audit Committee of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in November of 2017.

In Israel, the State Comptroller is tasked, not only with carrying out audits of Ministries, local government and various public organizations, but also with receiving and dealing with complaints submitted by the general public as the Ombudsman. Over 14,000 complaints were submitted to the Ombudsman's Office in 2017.

Dealing with this area is not new to Dr. Ben-Haim. Before she was nominated by the State Comptroller and Ombudsman of Israel for Director of the Ombudsman’s Office, she fulfilled the role of Ombudsman for the implementation of the Israeli National Health Care Insurance Act for almost 3 years. Prior to that, she was the Deputy Ombudsman of the Clalit HMO, the largest health care provider in Israel, for 13 years.

Less than a month in her new position, and in accordance with the State Comptroller and Ombudsman's vision and goals, Dr. Ben-Haim has already developed a vision for this new challenging role: "I see myself as a guardian of civil and social rights, particularly for the disadvantaged. I look at a complaint in two different, and yet parallel dimensions. The first one is the individual, the complainant himself or herself, who felt s/he was somehow negatively affected by an act or an omission of a governmental entity or authority which are subject to the jurisdiction of the State Comptroller and Ombudsman: how can I assist him or her? The second dimension is that of society itself; this entails finding a solution which not only benefits the complainant, but also society in the broader sense. I am a civil servant, especially for those who feel they have reached a dead end in dealing with governmental bureaucracy – and I am cognizant of the immense responsibility that comes with this status".

Source: State Comptrolle & Ombudsman, Israel