Knesset panel chair calls into question need for ‘Israeli Air Force One’

Knesset State Control Committee chairman Mickey Levy calls into question the value of Israel’s new “Air Force One” — dubbed Wing of Zion — which was used for the first time to ferry Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the United States last month.

“The yearly maintenance of the aircraft is very expensive. We have to see whether it is worthwhile, considering the financial aspects,” Levy says. “I visited the site where the Wing of Zion plane is parked, and I did not get the impression that there was anything grandiose there. It is by no means ostentatious. Considering the high cost of the plane’s operation when it serves a president or prime minister of Israel, the need for it must be reexamined.”

The Prime Minister’s Office was surprised to discover recently that the plane could only take 60 passengers, far less than the expected complement of aides, guards and journalists, according to Kan.

The plane, a reconfigured and upgraded Boeing 767, has been caught in political fighting in Israel for a number of years, with Netanyahu and his supporters arguing that it is a necessary safety measure, and detractors calling it a waste of taxpayer money and a symbol of corruption.