“A dialogue conducted like a monologue” is how the chair of the State Control Committee, Knesset member Karin Elharrar of the Yesh Atid Party, described a discussion she organized Aug. 16 to examine ways to make the defense budget more efficient. A very critical state comptroller’s report, released Aug. 5, noted that the wasteful defense establishment refused to become more efficient and that it systematically ignored any criticism it faced in various reports on the matter.
One of the people Elharrar invited to the meeting was the deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan. She was hoping to ask him what happened to the Defense Ministry’s enormous budget of more than 57 billion shekels (over $14 billion for 2015, which included a special addition to cover the 2014 Gaza war) if the great and powerful Israel Defense Forces has to ask for donations to buy weapons for its soldiers. But Golan never showed up, and the director general of the Ministry of Defense, reserve Maj. Gen. Dan Harel, was forced to provide answers instead. Of course, they did not satisfy Elharrar, but she does not intend to give up so easily. She is not intimidated, even if it is the case that when a young woman like her stands up to generals asking questions, their starting assumption is that she doesn’t really understand the issues at stake.