Ministry of Transport and Road Safety

The ministry's remit covers the management, development, and regulation of Israel's land, air, and maritime transport systems, including road planning, public-transport development, driver and vehicle licensing, and road safety.[2] Its 2050 strategic plan frames transportation policy around accessibility, safety, sustainability, and economic development across land, sea, and air.[1] A 2012 strategic plan quoted by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research stated that an efficient public-transport system could provide mobility for the population, shape cities and metropolises, strengthen connections among them and with peripheral areas, and address accessibility, air-pollution, and safety problems.[5]

The ministry maintains and oversees international air, sea, and overland links and is responsible for Israel Railways and other public transportation services.[3] A historical ministry profile describes its overall remit as promoting road safety, maintaining regular and efficient transport services, maintaining international air, sea, and overland links, and promoting safety on those routes; for land transport, this includes vehicle condition, driver fitness, and transport-infrastructure safety.[6]

Public services delivered directly by the ministry include obtaining and renewing driver's licences, renewing vehicle licences, transferring vehicle ownership, registering electric bicycles and scooters, applying for a disabled parking badge, and completing the accompaniment programme for young new drivers.[7] Additional services cover vehicle registration and trade: owners may apply to cancel a vehicle's registration or deposit, obtain a report of vehicles registered to them, and seek licences to trade in new or used vehicles or permits to use dealer plates.[7]

The ministry also offers a safety-recall checking service and issues skipper's certificates for small passenger ships, valid for two years. Its infrastructure-coordination application enables private citizens to request information, coordinate plans, or seek work permits for infrastructure works.[7]

A January 2024 INSS analysis by Yossi Daskal describes the decades following Israel's establishment as a period of limited progress in public transportation. In his account, Egged and Dan developed as bus-company monopolies, rail service relied on infrastructure and equipment left by the British, the state progressively lost control over subsidy payments, and companies operated without proper oversight while prices rose and service remained lacking.[4]

Daskal dates the beginning of a significant reform process to 1992 under the Rabin government. He presents Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's appointment of Histadrut Secretary Israel Keisar as Minister of Transportation as part of an effort to remove barriers to reform and notes that subsequent governments adopted measures that shaped transportation policy.[4] These measures included 1997 licences for additional companies to operate bus services in specified areas, later government resolutions on private-sector participation in mass-transit development, and decisions to create metropolitan transportation administrations.[4] NTA was created as an umbrella company for mass transit in the central region, with similar resolutions adopted for Haifa and Jerusalem.[4]

A 2005 government decision made the transport minister responsible for road safety and called for an independent authority to coordinate and oversee efforts; a 2006 law established the National Road Safety Authority and assigned it roles in policy, planning, research, public information, education, enforcement, and oversight.[8] The authority was established in January 2007 under that law and began operating in 2008; the Knesset made the enabling law permanent in 2018.[8] The ministry itself was renamed the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety in 2007.[8]

Government Resolution 3988 called for establishing a National Public Transport Authority as a support unit within the Ministry of Transport and for metropolitan transport authorities subordinate to it. The national authority was instead created as a department within the ministry rather than in the planned support-unit form.[9]

A 2012 public-transport plan marked a further policy shift, described in the ministry's 2050 strategic plan as "moving the focus from road paving toward public transport and mass transit systems."[1] The annual transportation development budget, including public-transport subsidies, grew from approximately NIS 18 billion in 2014 to roughly NIS 40 billion in 2024. Public transport's share of that budget rose from 58% to 74%, while the relative share allocated to road development fell from 39% to 23%.[1]

In January 2024, Daskal counted 32 Ministers of Transportation since Israel's establishment, 12 of whom had served for less than a year.[4] He connected short tenures to changes and cancellations of earlier transportation initiatives involving rail electrification, light-rail projects, and the Tel Aviv metro, describing the resulting pattern as a "pendulum of reforms."[4]

The ministry's administrative headquarters comprises the Minister's Office, the Director General and Deputy Director General, the Legal Adviser's Bureau, Economic Planning, the Ombudsman, the Chief Scientist, Internal Audit, and the Spokesperson. The headquarters coordinates the work of the ministry's units and acts to implement ministry policies.[10]

The Traffic Administration is a central operational arm and includes the Licensing Division, the Vehicle Division, a Technology and Innovation unit, and the Safety Officers Unit.[11] The Vehicle Division implements ministry policy concerning motor vehicles, repairs, import, manufacturing, maintenance systems, spare parts, and heavy machinery, while the Licensing Division handles driver training, testing and licensing, instructor and professional-manager certification, and driver and vehicle licences.[11]

The Licensing Division maintains four district branches associated with 30 permanent branches and testing stations, and the Vehicle and Maintenance Service Division has four district branches.[11] The Technology and Innovation unit's work includes integrating advanced driver-assistance systems and introducing autonomous vehicles while maintaining user safety, as well as supporting vehicle-systems research, development, and trials on Israeli roads.[11]

The Safety Officers Unit was added to the Traffic Administration in July 2003. It is responsible for vehicle safety, function, and maintenance for company or operator fleets; driver instruction and well-being; advice on traffic-safety issues; and contact with external parties including police, accident victims, and insurance companies.[11]

Separate functional administrations cover the different transport modes. A historical ministry profile describes the Shipping and Ports Administration as handling vessel and maritime-personnel licensing, oversight of merchant-marine vessels, lighthouse operation and maintenance, harbour development, vessel registration, small-craft supervision, and prevention of marine pollution. It also describes the administration as coordinating maritime transport with the National Emergency Board during emergencies.[6]

The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel was established by Knesset law in February 2005 as an agency under the ministry and is responsible for improving, regulating, and developing civil aviation in accordance with Israeli aviation laws.[12] It controls the licensing and supervision of civilian flight operations and maintains a special unit for unmanned aircraft systems within its Department for Aerial Control.[12] The ministry's May 2026 strategic plan lists the Civil Aviation Authority and the Aviation Safety Investigation Authority as separate bodies.[1]

The Planning, Policy and Strategy Department, within the Economics, Budgets, and Strategy Division, prepared the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Transportation in Israel through 2050.[1] The Planning and Economics Division has also been described as advising ministry leadership on economics and planning, coordinating transport policy, monitoring work plans, budgets, and funding, and overseeing policy on prices and fees, transport research and information systems, physical planning, and master plans.[6]

A National Public Transport Authority operates as a department within the ministry and is responsible for regulating, supervising, planning, and operating public transport, with bus-route planning and regulation managed centrally from Jerusalem.[9] The authority managed an annual budget of approximately NIS 16 billion and had ticket-sale revenues of approximately NIS 3 billion at the time of a 2024 report.[9] The Israel Meteorological Service, which serves land, sea, and air transport, is also administered by the ministry.[3][1]

A historical profile states that a Supreme Transport Authority established in 1975 coordinates transport organisation and operation during emergencies. During an emergency, it becomes a command staff post headed by the ministry's Director-General, with subordinate administrations covering land transport, passenger transport, air transport, ports, and marine transport.[6]

A file-classification schedule published by the Israel State Archives groups ministry records under divisions and units including licensing administration, vehicle licensing, driver licensing, vehicle standards and imports, the National Authority for Road Safety, and the Shipping and Ports Administration.[13]

The Civil Aviation Authority of Israel (CAAI) was established by Knesset law in February 2005 as an agency under the Ministry of Transportation, with responsibility for improving, regulating, and developing civil aviation in Israel in accordance with Israeli aviation laws.[12] The CAAI controls the licensing and supervision of civilian flight operations; within its Department for Aerial Control, a special unit handles unmanned aircraft systems.[12]

Under the Aviation Law, 5771-2011, the Minister of Transportation and Road Safety may adopt rules for aviation-professional licensing with approval from the Knesset Finance Committee and is also authorised to regulate aspects of aircraft design and production.[12] The minister, with the consent of the Minister of Defense—or the government in the absence of that consent—may designate areas for civilian and military flights. Decisions on routes through Israeli airspace also involve consultation with the Minister of Environmental Protection, or action by the government in the absence of the required consent.[12]

Approvals for unmanned-aircraft flights had been controlled by the Israeli Air Force since Israel's first such flight in the mid-1970s.[12] As experimental flights by defence industries increased, the Air Force reportedly began directing requests for civilian flight approval to the CAAI. That shift prompted a comprehensive review of Israeli legislation on unmanned-aircraft operations.[12]

The ministry's road-safety responsibilities encompass land-transport infrastructure, interurban and urban roads, road-safety infrastructure on interurban roads, and funding for projects addressing high-risk locations.[8] The Traffic Administration covers motor-vehicle policy and regulation, driver examinations and licences, vehicle licences, and vehicle inspection and oversight.[8]

The National Road Safety Authority is a separate statutory body established to coordinate and oversee road-safety efforts across government, with roles in policy, planning, research, public information, education, enforcement, and oversight.[8] The intended arrangement gives the transport minister responsibility for both the ministry's traffic-flow work and the authority's road-safety focus, with the minister able to resolve disputes between them.[8]

The Road Safety Administration within the ministry was originally established in 1981 as an interministerial agency to coordinate the work of ministries involved in combating traffic accidents.[6] The government later transferred responsibility for fighting road accidents to the National Road Safety Authority. Daskal reported the authority's budget as NIS 550 million in 2005 and NIS 73 million in 2021 and quoted a journalist describing the state as "drying up" the authority.[4]

As of the ministry's information accessed on October 16, 2026, Miri Regev served as Minister of Transport and Road Safety and Moshe Ben Zaken was the ministry's Director General.[7] The ministry's address is 5 Bank of Israel Street, Government Complex A, Jerusalem, and its national call centre is *4515.[7]

The ministry's allocation in the 2025 state budget was approximately NIS 845 million.[2] This figure is distinct from the broader transport and infrastructure budgets under the ministry's responsibility, which amount to tens of billions of shekels annually for roads, railways, public transport, and national infrastructure projects.[2] The National Public Transport Authority, operating within the ministry, managed an annual budget of approximately NIS 16 billion, with ticket-sale revenues of approximately NIS 3 billion, at the time of a 2024 report.[9]

The 2050 Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Transportation in Israel describes a deliberate shift in the ministry's investment strategy. Alongside continued road-infrastructure spending, it reports accelerated investment in mass transit—including urban light rail, bus rapid transit, and intercity heavy rail—and increased public-transport subsidies intended to encourage shifts from private cars.[1] The plan is intended to guide long-term strategic and detailed planning across land, air, and sea, covering infrastructure development and operations, regulation, and economic matters, and to connect transport planning with other national plans and policy areas.[1]

At the start of 2024, Israel had approximately 4,000 bus lines, but 80% of weekly passengers used only 20% of them, highlighting the concentration of demand on a core network.[1] The National Public Transport Authority handles regular public-transport operations and route-network planning, determines service-level characteristics, issues route licences to operators, monitors whether service conforms to plans, and handles subsidies and financial settlements with operators.[14]

A 2023 government work plan aimed to increase public-transport-lane length from 456 to 550 kilometres; the reported total at year's end was 476 kilometres.[15] The 2023 road-safety target was 4.9 fatalities per billion kilometres travelled, while the National Council for Road Safety reported an actual figure of 5.5.[15] The ministry's 2024 plan shifted to a population-based measure, targeting 3.48 deaths per 100,000 people against a reported actual rate of 4.4.[15] A national road-safety plan was not budgeted in the 2025 budget.[15]

An INSS analysis reported that the Ministry of Transport's budget in 2020 was NIS 28 billion, less than half the Ministry of Defense budget, and framed transportation infrastructure and public transportation as matters with economic, social, safety, and national-security implications.[16]

Several institutional assessments have identified persistent weaknesses in the ministry's coordination and implementation record. Daskal argues that the ministry's preference for settling subsidies with a limited number of bus companies, combined with limited competition and inadequate information about passenger numbers, costs, and demand, weakened the government's bargaining position in public-transport negotiations.[4] His analysis characterises the pre-reform era as one in which companies operated without proper oversight while prices rose and service remained lacking.[4]

The 2024 State Comptroller road-safety report found that ministry units with road-safety responsibilities also handled other subjects and that the ministry lacked a dedicated official responsible solely for coordinating all its road-safety activity. The report described this arrangement as inconsistent with the intended division between the ministry's traffic-flow responsibilities and the independent National Road Safety Authority's safety focus.[8] Separately, reported performance fell short of published targets: the 2023 target of 4.9 fatalities per billion kilometres was against an actual figure of 5.5, and the 2024 target of 3.48 deaths per 100,000 people was against a reported rate of 4.4.[15]

The chronology of the National Public Transport Authority's establishment is reported inconsistently. One account describes it as established in 2014 under Government Resolution 3988, while another dates Resolution 3988 to 2011 and states that the authority was created as a ministry department rather than in the planned support-unit form.[14][9] The accounts may reflect the resolution and subsequent establishment as separate milestones, but their dates and formulations are not consistent.

Similar ambiguity surrounds the National Road Safety Authority's founding date. One profile states that it has held responsibility for road safety since 1997, while the 2024 State Comptroller report traces the current authority to a 2006 law, its establishment in January 2007, and the start of operations in 2008, treating an earlier body as a predecessor.[17][8]

The most detailed historical and institutional account of the ministry's reform process in the cited material comes from Daskal's INSS analysis. INSS states that opinions in its publications are those of the authors alone; its critical assessments of ministry choices, oversight, and market regulation therefore represent the researcher's interpretation rather than uncontested institutional findings.[4]