Anti‑Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Israel
Table of contents
The regulatory framework for public integrity and anti-corruption is set out in Government Decisions, including, inter alia: Government Decision 3993/2011 on Improving Human Capital Management Mechanisms in the Civil Service, which sets out integrity measures related to human resource management; Government Decision 4618/2006, which established combating serious and organized crime (which includes the fight against corruption) as a long-term policy goal, creating a policy-setting board composed of the heads of the main enforcement bodies and an implementation committee headed by the Head of the Investigations and Intelligence Division of the Israeli Police to coordinate policy, approve workplans and monitor implementation. However, as is common practice in Israeli strategic government decisions, there are currently no specific time bound objectives on anti-corruption and integrity in place.
The Ministry of Justice has a number of dedicated units – the Anti-corruption Unit in the Department of the Deputy Attorney General (Criminal Law) whose role is to coordinate and integrate the field of the prevention of corruption; the Integrity Unit in the Department of the Deputy Attorney General (Administrative Law), whose role is to oversee integrity standards in the civil service, including appointments, conflicts of interest, post-employment restrictions, gifts, donations, and related ethical governance matters; and the Freedom of Information Unit, responsible for public information issues and open data policy. The State Comptroller of Israel is responsible for overseeing the financing of political parties and electoral campaigns. The Lobbying activities are regulated for Members of the Knesset under Knesset Law 5754-199, and a committee within the Knesset oversees compliance. Similar regulation on lobbying for the executive has not been adopted. Instead, most government ministries have adopted a set of guidelines, circulated by the Ministry of Justice. The Attorney General, along with the Civil Service Commission, provides oversight of interest declarations for members of government, members of the Knesset, and top-tier civil servants whereas the Ombudsman for Judges is responsible for judges.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available. Data for judicial integrity, prosecutorial integrity and disciplinary system are not available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Data on where Israel’s integrity system is strongest and could be most improved can be found at the link below:
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Israel does not fulfil the criteria of the OECD regarding strategic frameworks, compared to the OECD average of 38% on regulation and 32% on practice.
Government Decisions are the primary method through which Israel adopts strategic objectives. In line with Israeli government practice, several Government Decisions on integrity are in place, including: Government Decision 3993/2011 on Improving Human Capital Management Mechanisms in the Civil Service, which covers civil service reform, appointments, tenure, rotation and ethics rules; and Government Decision 4618/2006, which established combating serious and organised crime (including the fight against corruption) as a long-term policy goal, and establishes bodies to coordinate policy, approve workplans and monitor implementation.
However, these Decisions are not time-bound, and under the OECD criteria, strategic decisions could be considered as part of the strategic framework only if they set a strategic direction in the short or medium term with clear, specific and time-bound primary level objectives specifically aimed at mitigating public integrity risks.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Israel fulfils 40% of criteria on lobbying regulations, and 22% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 43% and 38%, respectively.
Knesset Law 5754-1994 defines lobbying and lobbying activities for Members of the Knesset. The law establishes cooling-off periods for members of the government and members and staff of the Knesset. The Civil Service Law establishes similar restrictions for public servants generally.
A committee within the Knesset oversees compliance with the rules, but there is no supervisory function in the central government that oversees the transparency of lobbying activities. A lobbying portal is available online, and contains information related to the names of the lobbyists, the employing firm, and clients, but information on the domain of intervention or piece of legislation targeted is not available.
In 2022 the Ministry of Justice circulated a set of guidelines on interactions with lobbyists in relation to economic activity, recommending that ministries adopt them as internal procedures, with the necessary adjustments to accommodate the specific Ministry's characteristics. Adopted by most ministries, the guidelines instruct public officials to consider the interests of all stakeholders affected by their actions, including those not represented by lobbyists, and to act impartially and without discrimination. They also include provisions on coordination, documentation and reporting of meetings between public officials and lobbyists, with the aim of increasing transparency and enabling oversight of such interactions.
Rules on the transparency of beneficial ownership and establishment of a register of beneficial ownership are currently in the process of legislation in the Knesset and have not yet been adopted. The proposed legislation requires the establishment of a central register maintained by the Corporations Authority and obliges corporations to identify and report their beneficial owners.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Israel fulfils 89% of criteria on conflict-of-interest regulations, and 33% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 80% and 45%, respectively.
The Attorney General guideline No. 1. 1555 define incompatibilities between public functions and other public or private activities and circumstances that can lead to conflict-of-interest situations. The guidelines outlines submission, compliance, and content verification procedures for interest declarations. The Civil Service Law of 1963 establishes sanctions for breaches of conflict-of-interest provisions, which can range from warnings to criminal sanctions, depending on the severity of the offence.
In practice, the submission rate for members of the Government over the 2020-2024 period is lower than 100%. All members of the Knesset and more than 80% of members of the highest bodies of the judiciary have submitted interest declarations over the same time period.
A range of sanctions were issued during the past three years to address cases of non-compliance. Upon submission of an interest declaration, the relevant public officials signs an affidavit which is verified by a lawyer. As such, there is no data on the verification of interest declarations and there is no central body verifying according to a risk-based approach.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Israel fulfils 100% of criteria on political finance regulations, and 43% on practice, compared to the OECD average of 76% and 58%, respectively.
Oversight of political parties and electoral campaigns is entrusted to State Comptroller of Israel. The Political Parties Financing Act establishes a comprehensive framework for political finance and election campaign regulation. It defines sanctions for breaches that are proportionate to the severity of the offence and provides that electoral candidates may be held personally liable and sanctioned for violations.
The law prohibits anonymous donations, requires all contributions to political parties and candidates to be registered and reported, and bans contributions from foreign states or enterprises and publicly owned companies. Political parties are required to make their financial reports public, including all contributions exceeding a fixed threshold. It also sets ceilings on electoral campaign expenditures for parties, candidates, and third parties, as well as limits on personal contributions to candidates’ campaigns.
In practice, compliance with statutory deadlines has been uneven. All political parties submitted their annual financial accounts for 2024; however, in 2022 and 2023, two parties submitted their reports late, and one party initially failed to submit its report. Similarly, for the elections to the 25th Knesset, of the 24 parties entitled to state funding, 21 submitted on time, two submitted with delay, and one did not submit at all. Submitted financial reports are not publicly available. However, the reports and findings of the State Comptroller incorporate and reflect the financial data contained in those reports, and this information is detailed in the State Comptroller’s report on the financing of political parties and election campaigns – a report that is published and publicly available.
Note: 2025 and 2020 data or latest year available.
Source: OECD Public Integrity Indicators Database (data extracted on 7 March 2026)
Israel fulfils 44% of criteria on regulatory safeguards for transparency of public information and 65% in practice, compared to the OECD averages of 72% and 62%, respectively.
The Freedom of Information Law 5758-1998 grants the right to access public information to Israeli citizens and residents; under the law, individuals who are neither citizens nor residents may request information concerning their rights in Israel. Statutory deadlines for processing requests are established, and while the law does not require that information be provided in the requested format, Governmental Freedom of Information Unit’s binding Procedure 7 mandates information to be provided in the format in which it exists – prioritising digital and open formats – and prohibits providing information in a closed format which is already held in an open one. A very low application fee of 24 ILS is applied and exemptions are granted to NGOs, academic researchers, low-income individuals and other specific groups.
Government Decision 1933requires all ministries to make their databases publicly available, except for those containing personally identifiable information or otherwise restricted by law (a database containing personal information may be available after it has been anonymised). These databases are provided in open, machine-readable formats. The Freedom of Information Unit, within the Ministry of Justice, acts as a guiding and coordinating body under this decision and under Section 3 of Government Decision 2950 has established proactive disclosure guidelines. Legislative proposals submitted to parliament, government session agendas, public tenders’ announcements, the company registry, the land registry, and conflict of interest declarations of top-level public employees are publicly available. Interest declarations of members of the judiciary and results of all public tenders awarded are not available. Other records, like ministers’ agendas, can be accessed reactively through Freedom of Information requests.
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This work is published under the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Member countries of the OECD.
This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area.
The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law.
Kosovo: This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/99 and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo’s declaration of independence.
The full book is available in English: OECD (2026), Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook 2026: Harnessing the Integrity Advantage, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/16708b78-en.
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