From the Liveblog of
Monday, April 15, 2024
Netanyahu’s weekend stay at billionaire friend’s home may constitute illicit gift, watchdog charges
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s weekend stay at the Jerusalem home of American billionaire Simon Falic may constitute the receipt of a prohibited gift, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel states, calling for state legal authorities to probe the matter.
In a letter to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and Shlomit Barnea-Farago, the Prime Minister’s Office legal adviser, Hiddai Negev states that beyond the ethical issue of a prime minister staying at a foreigner’s home in Israel, Netanyahu’s actions may have violated the prohibition for public servants to accept gifts.
“Accommodation and lodging services in a spacious villa, provided without consideration, may amount to a prohibited gift and a violation of the rules regarding the receipt of benefits,” the watchdog group says in a statement. Moreover, “it is not appropriate for the Prime Minister of the State of Israel to live in the private home of a foreign resident” during a war in which tens of thousands of his countrymen are displaced and his own government-funded residences remain empty.
Netanyahu’s stay “raises serious questions regarding the need to maintain the three residences” at public expense, writes Negev.
According to media reports, Netanyahu spent the weekend at the gated luxury mansion on Jerusalem’s Caspi Street owned by American billionaire Simon Falic, which reportedly has a nuclear shelter.
Iran on Saturday night launched a large wave of around 300 attack drones and missiles from its territory toward the Jewish state.
