Several key Israeli sites were hit by Iranian ballistic missiles during the war, including the Medical Center in Beersheba, the Haifa Bajan oil refinery, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
State Comptroller Matanyahu Engelman on Tuesday accused the Ministry of Defense, the IDF, and the National Security Council (NSC) of failing to provide physical security for critical infrastructure sites.
Some of the important Israeli sites that were attacked by Iranian ballistic missiles during the war include the Medical Center in Beersheba, the Haifa Bajan Oil Refinery (which damaged pipelines and transmission lines), various important laboratories at the Weizmann University in Rehovot, and many others.
According to the comptroller, the issue was first flagged by a division of the ministry in 2011, and his office issued a detailed report in 2020 highlighting all the weaknesses, but all efforts on the issue have been ignored so far.
The issue of physical defenses is different from air defenses such as Iron Dome, David’s Sling, The Arrow and Iron Beam. Those defenses are designed to prevent air threats from entering Israeli airspace or approaching various types of Israeli installations or residential areas.
A building on the campus of the Weizmann Institute of Science is damaged after an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 19, 2025, in Rehovot, Israel (Credit: REUTERS/VIOLETA SANTOS MOURA)
In contrast, the Comptroller is prosecuting various authorities for failing to provide special physical protection for critical infrastructure installations in cases where missiles breached air defenses and hit installations.
Protection of Critical Sites: Israel lacks a legal framework
Ingleman said the issue was urgent, because no matter how strong Israeli air defenses are, they are not hermetic, and Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis and Iran all managed to damage various critical sites at points of war, sites that had no physical defenses.
According to the Comptroller, there are many barriers to providing security for these sites.
First, the defense establishment has failed to map out a comprehensive inventory of these sites.
To the extent that there is some mapping, all parties know that this process is inadequate and not remotely updated.
There is no legal process to add new sites to the list, the regulator warned.
No legislation has been passed to create a legal framework for procedures to protect these sites and promote efforts to do so in the political and defense sectors.
Among the various agencies involved in the issue: the Ministry of Defense, the Rachel Disaster Response Organization within the ministry, the IDF, the NSC, and the Ministry of Finance, no one has attempted to resolve the disagreement over which agency should provide funding for the extremely expensive defense project.
The Jerusalem Post A sticking point is the stance on who will be the lead funder, with many bodies, including private sector companies, recognizing that they would be willing to contribute some funds if they were not lead.
Without processes and funding, little progress has been made on how to provide physical security. Such decisions are a prerequisite for possible years of planning and construction.
Although the report does not address this issue specifically, a key challenge is whether it is physically possible to fully protect all sites.
For example, many critical IDF operations have moved to underground locations, or at least developed backup underground locations, to maintain their operations in the event of a major air war.
Could all electricity, water, medical, and other critical infrastructure really be moved underground, even if there were funds to do so?
What effect will this have on their current work?
The post This may be one of the more difficult dilemmas, but learning that there are many other options for striking Israeli critical infrastructure without going underground or making it difficult to detect.
Ingleman has also made some specific allegations. He said, ‘The Ministry of Defense has played a game in this matter, shifting its responsibilities from one sub-section to another, it seems that it is looking for a way to confront this issue head-on.
Additionally, the controller criticized the ministry for failing to address the issue even after the war broke out and the home front came under heavy barrage of ballistic missiles.
In fact, the report states that the ministry and the NSC have made progress on only one of the five major weaknesses, at least as the committee has begun work to delve deeper into the issue.
Furthermore, the report notes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally intervened in the issue in November 2023, ordering the NSC to receive the results.
However, the NSC began pressing the Ministry of Defense for specific progress in June 2024, and the Ministry then ignored the NSC deadline of July 2024 to provide a substantial update.
Only in December 2024, when then-Defense Ministry Director General Eyal Zamir was about to leave his post to become the next IDF chief, Zamir ordered his subordinates in the ministry to make new progress on the issue.
The report also periodically makes vague references to other security agencies which have flagged risks and which should assist in the process.
The activities of the Shin Bet and the Israeli Atomic Energy Agency are often kept classified.
Smoke rises from Soroka Medical Center, the city’s general hospital, following a missile attack on Israel by Iran, in Beersheba, Israel June 19, 2025 (Credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN)
Israel’s defense ministers did nothing to secure the sites
Meanwhile, the report does not seem to indicate that many defense ministers have attempted to make any progress on the issue after 2020.
Englman said Zamir, especially as Defense Minister Israel Katz and the current IDF chief, has the primary responsibility to continue to solve the problem.
More specifically, the report said that Katz should assign leadership to various aspects of the case, whether it be financing, mapping the sites, or implementing new physical safeguards at the sites.
The comptroller also said that the NSC and IDF chiefs would have to submit specific proposals to the prime minister to help move the issue forward on aspects that would require him to be personally involved.
Also, Engelman said Netanyahu should take a more active role in the issue, rather than waiting for other officials to come to him with proposals.
