Exactly one month before the elections for the 20th Knesset, State Comptroller Judge (ret.) Joseph Shapira today published a very critical report on the expenses claimed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, for their homes in Jerusalem and Caesarea.
"The expenses of the Prime Minister, his family, and his guests in the official Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem in 2012 were not consistent with the basic principles of proportionality, reasonableness, thrift, and efficiency," Shapira wrote. "A public servant, however senior, should be expected to show more public sensitivity, and to behave during his term in office in accordance with the principles of proper public behavior."
At the same time, the Comptroller cited with approval the fact that Netanyahu's home expenses had decreased in 2013.
Shapira has asked the Attorney General to decide if bottle deposit refunds, the purchase of garden furniture, and employment of an electrician who was a Likud activist involved criminal conduct.
The official Prime Minister's residence is on Balfour St. in Jerusalem. Netanyahu has two private homes: one of Gaza St. in Jerusalem and one a house in Caesarea. The state pays for necessary expenses of the home in Caesarea, mainly for the use of the home in official business.
The state pays only for security expenses on the residence on Gaza St. in Jerusalem. The Comptroller checked the expenses for the residences in 2009-2013, and found 10 main faults in the behavior of the Prime Minister and his wife.
NIS 367,000 for ice cream and wine
In February 2013, it was revealed that the Prime Minister's Office had asked for and received permission to buy ice cream for NIS 10,000 a year, charged to the state budget, leading to widespread criticism of Netanyahu in the matter.
In his current report, the Comptroller also examined the official residence's expenses for the purchase of goods that were not part of meals, such as ice cream, soft drinks, coffee, and wine. He found that spending on these items totaled NIS 196,000 in 2010, climbed to NIS 367,000 in 2011, dropped to NIS 321,000 in 2012, and totaled "only" NIS 182,000 in 2013. He stated that the fact that these expenses were so much lower in 2013 than in previous years indicates that "things could have been different, and the public's money could also have been saved in the previous years."
Cleaning expenses on Caesarea house up 40%
Cleaning expenses at the official residence grew 80% in 2009-2012, and cleaning expenses at his private home in Caesarea grew 40% in 2010-2012, totaling NIS 85,000 in 2010, NIS 87,000 in 2011, and NIS 122,000 in 2012: a monthly average of NIS 8,166, even though Netanyahu and his family live in the official residence most of the year, spending mainly weekends at the private residence in Caesarea.
Using diplomatic language, the Comptroller called the Netanyahus' cleaning expenses "very high." Concerning the expenses at the private residence, he wrote, "In the Comptroller's opinion, these expenses were very excessive, and are out of proportion to the length of time spent there… The reasonableness of the amount of cleaning expenses should be examined, and action should be taken to avoid unnecessary spending at the state's expense."
Netanyahu ordered payment for excess water consumption at his private residence
Following an inquiry by the Movement for Freedom of Information, it was reported in 2013 that the Netanyahus' water expenses at their home in Caesarea, which contains a swimming pool, totaled over NIS 80,000 in that year. Netanyahu also paid over NIS 5,500 in tax for excessive water use. The report criticizes Netanyahu for not paying from his own pocket for the excess water consumption during the relevant years. The Comptroller noted that in 2012, a committee that included the Prime Minister's Office's legal advisor, senior VP for administration and human resources, and salary accountant (the "Committee of Three") decided that the state should not pay for the drought levy on water consumption in the private residence.
According to the report, Netanyahu did not accept the decision, and asked the committee to change the instruction , and to pay for the water expenses at his private residence, including the water levy on excess water consumption. The committee accordingly changed its position, and the Prime Minister's Office reimbursed the Prime Minister for the drought water levy that he had paid. "It would have been right for the Prime Minister to pay the excess water levy himself, because the water consumption at his residence exceeded the amount set in the law," the Comptroller pointed out. "Paying for this levy does not conform to the public norms, and fails to set a personal example."
Likud: The expenses were inflated during the period of house manager Meni Naftali
Following the Comptroller's report, the Likud said, "The Prime Minister respects the recommendations in the State Comptroller's report on the matter examined. A large proportion of the recommendations were already implemented before the report was written. The Prime Minister has ordered the remaining recommendations to be implemented in the best and most effective way.
"Unfortunately, the media campaign focusing on this report in recent weeks is a clear attempt to overthrow the Prime Minister and the Likud government by dealing in trivialities and diverting attention away from the really important issue: who will protect Israel against the enormous security threats and international pressures - Benjamin Netanyahu, or Tzipi and Buji?
"The fact is that in the things examined by the Comptroller, there is no concern about corruption, and certainly not about any crimes.
"The introduction to the report, which is not part of it, includes trivialities about bottle recycling and purchases of garden furniture. The Comptroller did not examine these matters. No queries were made to the Prime Minister's Office or the Prime Minister in these matters, and they were not given the right to respond to them.
"The Comptroller's report contains no comparison to any other official residence in Israel. This situation creates a difficult problem of criteria, because the expenses at an official residence are in no way comparable to expenses at any private home whatsoever. For example, expenses at the President's house are many times those at the Prime Minister's residence. The Comptroller's report does not provide particulars about the division of the budget for the President's house. There is therefore no basis for comparison that enables the public to judge what the acceptable criteria are.
"It is important to emphasize that expenses at the Prime Minister's residence have fallen substantially over the past two years. Expenses grew significantly during a certain period, when Meni Naftali, an embittered former employee who is leading a campaign of mudslinging and vilification against the Prime Minister, managed the official residence. He is attempting to obtain money from the state illegally and damage the Prime Minister and the Likud during an election campaign. The expenses at the official residence fell significantly after Naftali left his job."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 17, 2015
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