Matanyahu Englman
Matanyahu Englman is Israel’s State Comptroller and Ombudsman. He has held the position since July 2019, after being elected by the Knesset. He also serves as president of EUROSAI, the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, and became its president in 2024 after serving as vice president since 2021.
He was born on June 8, 1966, in Jerusalem and grew up in Rehovot. His father, Binyamin, was a physicist, and his maternal grandfather Yehuda Kiel won the Israel Prize in 1992 for his Bible commentary. Englman studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, earning a BA in economics and accounting and an MBA. He is married to Avigail, a social worker, the daughter of Moshe Mandelbaum, and they have six children. The family lives in Nof Ayalon. Englman is also a marathon runner.
Before becoming comptroller, Englman held various leadership roles. He worked as a CPA from 1991 to 1999, led the Jerusalem College of Engineering as Deputy Director General (1999–2005), and was Audit Committee Director for Joint Israel and related bodies (2004–2017). He was CEO of the Shoham Local Council (2005–2010) and later joined the Technion, where he rose to Executive Vice President and Director-General. From 2018 to 2019 he led the Council for Higher Education. He is seen as the first non-judge to hold the post in several decades and as having a more conservative, less activist style.
Englman is known for making reports more accessible and concise, focusing on the top issues with infographics. He published 107 reports in 2020 and 108 in 2021, covering topics like climate and cyber security. He has highlighted risks to Israel’s high-tech workforce and warned that the country is not fully prepared for climate-related challenges.
During his tenure, he has overseen several notable audits and recommendations. He criticized government spending in some areas, including a high-profile case involving a loan for a prime minister’s legal defense. He investigated law enforcement performance during riots in mixed Jewish-Arab cities, recommending steps such as teaching Arabic to police and hiring more Arab municipal workers. He called for better intelligence sharing and urged legal action against public order violators when appropriate. He also announced a special audit into the Mount Meron stampede but later paused it after a Supreme Court inquiry.
Englman has led climate and cost-of-living work, including a 2024 report on the cost of living and a comprehensive climate assessment. He has pushed for reforms in auditing practices, including more use of technology and data analysis, and outlined a plan called “Constructive Audit Reform.” He has warned about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence and plans international audits with EUROSAI on AI’s impact in health, law, defense and education.
Internationally, Englman has built strong ties with other audit offices. He visited Morocco in 2023, signed cooperation agreements with the United Kingdom for peer reviews, and worked with Brazil and Mexico on sharing methods. He participates in EUROSAI and OLACEFS conferences to discuss climate, cyber security and audit reforms. In 2024, he spoke about the role of auditors as a voice for transparency and accountability and emphasized cooperation with other countries to improve public governance.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 17:18 (CET).