Ministry of Finance (Israel)

Ministry of Finance
Israel

משרד האוצר
Ministry of Finance Headquarters
Agency overview
Formed	1948
Jurisdiction	Government of Israel
Headquarters	Finance Ministry Building, Jerusalem
Annual budget	1.95 billion NIS
Ministers responsible	Moshe Kahlon, Minister of Finance Yitzhak Cohen, Deputy Minister of Finance
Website	www.financeisrael.mof.gov.il

The Israeli Ministry of Finance (Hebrew: מִשְׂרַד הַאוֹצָר‎, Misrad HaOtzar) is a part of the Israeli political system. It is responsible for planning and implementing the Government of Israel’s overall economic policy.

The Ministry prepares the draft State Budget and monitors implementation of the approved budget, manages state revenues and collects direct and indirect taxes, manages the deficit and conducts the Government’s economic relations with foreign governments, regulates the capital market, savings and insurance and maintains auxiliary units for government ministries in motor vehicles, computer services, printing and government procurement.

The current Finance Minister is Moshe Kahlon.

Main functions

The units of the Ministry of Finance may be categorized by the three types of service they provide:

• Government staff services – departments that act on behalf of units and operations of the government: budgeting of government operations (Budget Department), operations of the Accountant General, economic services in the United States, and control and auditing of Finance Ministry operations (Internal Audit Unit).
• General economic staff services – departments that act in matters pertaining to the economy at large: management of state revenues (State Revenue Administration), and regulation of the capital market, insurance, and savings (Capital Market, Insurance, and Savings Department). The Tax Authority implements the Income Tax and Property Tax ordinances, Customs, and VAT.
• Auxiliary services for government ministries – motor-vehicle services (Government Vehicle Administration), computer services for the tax departments (Computer Service), printing (the Government Printer, a business enterprise owned by the Ministry of Finance) and Government Procurement Administration.

Departments and structure

Structure of the Israeli Ministry of Finance

Budget Department

The Budget Department (Hebrew: אגף התקציבים‎, Agaf HaTaktzivim) administers public expenditure and has three main roles:

1. Act as a central government unit for planning and budgeting.
2. Act as a consulting unit of the Ministry of Finance and the government for general aspects of its decision-making process.
3. Elaborate macro-economic policy.

Capital Market, Insurance, and Savings Department

The Capital Market, Insurance, and Savings Department supervises insurance and long-term savings market in Israel and is tasked with settling a suitable insurance policy. Among other duties, the department grants licenses and monitors the stability of insurance firms, pension funds, and insurance policies.

Israel Tax Authority

The Israel Tax Authority is composed of Income Tax, Land Tax, Customs and VAT authorities, and the Mechanized Processing Service. The Tax Authority is responsible for both direct and indirect tax systems, tax monitoring and public service improvement.

International Affairs Department

The International Affairs Department manages the Finance Ministry's contacts with foreign governments, economic organizations and the international community, in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other economic offices.

In addition, the department is responsible for publishing English press releases, presentations, documents, instant messages and other data for the Israeli Ministry of Finance's English readers.

Debt management Unit

The Government Debt Management Unit (GDMU), is in charge of managing Israel's domestic and external debt and the development and implementation of an overall debt management strategy. The unit is responsible for issuing tradable government bonds in Israel's domestic market and raising capital in international markets; promoting reforms in the Israeli capital market; studying and monitoring global capital markets; providing information to the international rating agencies; cooperating with the Israel Bonds Organization; and managing other countries' debts to Israel through the "Paris Club"

Economics and Research Department

The Economics and Research Department collects and analyzes information on economic developments in Israel and abroad and evaluates future developments of the Israeli market. The department's data is used in the formulation of economic policy.

Accountant General

The Accountant General's Department implements the state budget, manages state assets, funds the deficit and supervises government debt. In addition, the Accountant General also administers the government vehicle administration, supervises all of the government information and computer systems, and is also responsible for central government procurement.

Wage and Labor Agreements Department

The Wage and Labor Agreements Department is responsible for setting and implementing wage policy in the public sector, negotiating on behalf of the government and the public sector with the market, inspection and revision of public administration, and advising the government and the parliament (Knesset) on related issues.

Government Companies Authority

The GCA is a professional unit of the Ministry of Finance, which carries out the role of the government as a shareholder in all government companies, which includes privatizations and managing structural changes. The GCA is responsible for the activity of approximately 100 companies, which include commercial and non commercial companies, government subsidiaries and mixed companies.

State Revenue Division

State Revenue is an auxiliary division which determines the government's tax policy and tax reforms. The division prepares yearly revenue forecasts for the state's budget, analyzes tax collection data, and studies the implications of various laws and regulations. The division also manages international taxation issues and double-taxation avoidance treaties. The State Revenue Division produces a comprehensive yearly report, runs the tax museum and publishes the Israeli Quarter for Taxes.

Spokesperson's Office

The Spokesperson is responsible for the official communications and public relations of the Ministry. Its website contains all Hebrew press releases, presentations, and documents since 1998.

Holocaust Survivors Rights Authority

The Holocaust Survivors Rights Authority (Hebrew: הרשות לזכויות ניצולי השואה‎, HaReshut LiZkhuyot Nitzolei HaSho'a) is in charge of implementing the laws regarding holocaust survivors, granting monthly payments, medical treatments, rehabilitation and welfare services.

Governmental Printer

The Governmental Printer (Hebrew: המדפיס הממשלתי‎, HaMadpis HaMemshalti) is a service unit which provides printing services to governmental institutions. The governmental printer is also in charge for the printing of identity cards and passports, national final exams for schools, stamps, governmental reports, state laws, etc.

List of ministers

#	Minister	Party	Government	Term start	Term end	Notes
1	Eliezer Kaplan	Mapai	P, 1, 2, 3	14 May 1948	25 June 1952	Died in office
2	Levi Eshkol	Mapai	3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10	25 June 1952	26 June 1963
3	Pinchas Sapir	Mapai Alignment Labor Party	11, 12, 13	26 June 1963	5 August 1968
4	Ze'ev Sherf	Alignment	13, 14	5 August 1968	15 December 1969
–	Pinchas Sapir	Alignment	15, 16	15 December 1969	3 June 1974
5	Yehoshua Rabinovitz	Alignment	17	3 June 1974	20 June 1977
6	Simha Erlich	Likud	18	20 June 1977	7 November 1979
7	Yigal Hurvitz	Likud	18	7 November 1979	13 January 1981
8	Yoram Aridor	Likud	18, 19	21 January 1981	15 October 1983
9	Yigal Cohen-Orgad	Likud	20	18 October 1983	13 September 1984
10	Yitzhak Moda'i	Likud	21	13 September 1984	16 April 1986
11	Moshe Nissim	Likud	21, 22	16 April 1986	22 December 1988
12	Shimon Peres	Alignment	23	22 December 1988	15 March 1990
13	Yitzhak Shamir	Likud	23	15 March 1990	11 June 1990	Serving Prime Minister
–	Yitzhak Moda'i	New Liberal Party	24	11 June 1990	13 July 1992
14	Avraham Shochat	Labor Party	25, 26	13 July 1992	18 June 1996
15	Dan Meridor	Likud	27	18 June 1996	20 June 1997
16	Benjamin Netanyahu	Likud	27	20 June 1997	9 July 1997	Serving Prime Minister
17	Yaakov Neeman	Likud	27	9 July 1997	18 December 1998
–	Benjamin Netanyahu	Likud	27	18 December 1998	23 February 1999	Serving Prime Minister
18	Meir Sheetrit	Likud	27	23 February 1999	6 July 1999
–	Avraham Shochat	One Israel	28	6 July 1999	7 March 2001
19	Silvan Shalom	Likud	29	7 March 2001	28 February 2003
–	Benjamin Netanyahu	Likud	30	28 February 2003	9 August 2005
20	Ehud Olmert	Likud Kadima	30	9 August 2005	7 November 2005
21	Avraham Hirschson	Kadima	31	4 May 2006	22 April 2007
–	Ehud Olmert	Kadima	31	22 April 2007	4 July 2007	Serving Prime Minister
22	Roni Bar-On	Kadima	31	4 July 2007	31 March 2009
23	Yuval Steinitz	Likud	32	31 March 2009	18 March 2013
24	Yair Lapid	Yesh Atid	33	18 March 2013	2 December 2014
25	Moshe Kahlon	Kulanu	34	14 May 2015

Deputy ministers

#	Minister	Party	Government	Term start	Term end
1	Yitzhak Coren	Mapai	10	30 May 1962	26 June 1963
2	Zvi Dinstein	Alignment Labor Party Alignment	13, 14	24 July 1967	15 December 1969
–	Zvi Dinstein	Alignment	15	22 December 1969	10 March 1974
3	Yehezkel Flomin	Likud	18	28 June 1977	30 July 1979
4	Haim Kaufman	Likud	19, 20	28 August 1981	13 September 1984
5	Adiel Amorai	Alignment	21, 22	24 September 1984	22 December 1988
6	Yossi Beilin	Alignment	23	26 December 1988	11 June 1990
7	Yosef Azran	Shas	24	2 July 1990	13 July 1992
8	Rafael Pinhasi	Shas	25	4 August 1992	31 December 1992
9	David Magen	Likud	27	18 June 1996	20 May 1997
10	Nissim Dahan	Shas	28	5 August 1999	11 July 2000
11	Yitzhak Cohen	Shas	29	2 May 2001	20 May 2002
–	Yitzhak Cohen	Shas	29	3 June 2002	28 February 2003
–	Yitzhak Cohen	Shas	32	1 April 2009	18 March 2013
12	Mickey Levy	Yesh Atid	33	18 March 2013	4 December 2014
–	Yitzhak Cohen	Shas	34	19 May 2015

See also

• Economy of Israel
• Bank of Israel
• Standard of living in Israel

External links

• Israeli Ministry of Finance (English)
• Israeli Ministry of Finance (Hebrew)
• Past Ministers at Finance Israel
• All Ministers in the Ministry of Finance Knesset website