Israel Implementation Report 2017-2019 – For Public Comment

In 2020, the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... published the Implementation Report for Israel’s third action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... (2017-2019). The report covers the level of completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... and the results of the action plan.

In Israel, the IRM researchers Roy Peled and Guy Dayan’s findings are summarized below:

Israel’s third action plan mainly focused on disclosing government-held information, strengthening transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r..., and using technology to improve access to government services. While many commitments were substantially or fully implemented, they mostly did not lead to significant changes in government practice due to low levels of ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po.... CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 5 resulted in notable changes by starting to publish the legislative and budgetary amendments.

And in Hebrew:

תכנית הפעולה השלישית של ישראל התמקדה בעיקר בגילוי מידע המוחזק בידי הממשלה, חיזוק חקיקה לשקיפות, ושימוש בטכנולוגיה לשיפור הגישה לשירותי הממשלה. בעוד שהתחייבויות רבות יושמו במידה ניכרת או במלואן, הן לרוב לא הובילו לשינויים משמעותיים בפרקטיקות הממשלה בשל רמות שאפתנות נמוכות. התחייבות 5 הביאה לשינויים ניכרים שבאו לידי ביטוי בכך שהוחל בפרסום תיקוני החקיקה והתקציב.

The version of the report for public comment is available in English and in Hebrew below.  The two-week public comment period closed 22 July 2020.