Netanyahu’s Iran speech to Congress carried NIS 6m price tag

Of the 9.3 million shekels approved for government travel expenses in 2015, 7.2 million were for the prime minister

By ToI Staff 30 April 2015, 3:30 pm

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is greeted by members of Congress prior to addressing a joint session on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, March 3, 2015. (Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial trip to Washington to address the United States Congress cost Israeli taxpayers NIS 6 million shekels, according to a Finance Ministry report released this week.

The approximately $1.56 million dollar price tag bought Netanyahu the chance to lobby against the nuclear deal with Iran in a high-stakes speech that also widened a rift between Washington and Jerusalem in early March.

The figure was included in a report published by the Finance Ministry’s accountant general about expenses approved by a budget exceptions committee since the start of the year, the Hebrew-language news site Ynet reported Thursday.

Of the NIS 9.3 million that the panel okayed for government ministries’ travel expenses, NIS 7.2 million were for the prime minister and his entourage.

The other NIS 1.2 million was used for Netanyahu’s trip to Paris for a free speech rally in the wake of the series of terror attacks there in January.

The prime minister has faced criticism in the past over use of taxpayer money for travel and other expenses.

A state ombudsman report in February accused Netanyahu and his wife of abusing state coffer in a number of cases.

Netanyahu was pilloried in 2013 for spending NIS 450,000 to have a bed installed on a plane for a five-hour flight to London for Margaret Thatcher’s funeral.

The government has been working without an approved budget since January 1 due to the early elections.

Until a government is formed and a budget approved, each ministry receives a monthly amount corresponding to one-twelfth of its budget last year for ongoing and vital expenses only, according to Ynet.

The exceptions committee must approve expenses that are not ongoing or do not repeat each year, including those for travel abroad.

The committee, which is headed by a high-ranking deputy of the accountant general’s office, comprises representatives from the accountant general’s office and the budgets department, together with the Finance Ministry’s legal adviser.