More scandals continue to unravel regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Following the recent revelations regarding his excessive spending on alcoholic drink, a draft state comptroller report revealed that foreign entities funded trips abroad for Netanyahu and his family up to tens of thousands of dollars.
Israel’s Channel 10 news reporter, Raviv Drucker, wrote in his Hebrew-language blog that the draft report, which will be published after the elections, reveals that foreign organisations funded trips abroad for Netanyahu and his family during his term as finance minister in Ariel Sharon’s cabinet.
Haaretz quoted the Channel 10 reporter as saying that the draft report reveals Netanyahu acceptance of patronage to arouse “suspicion of compromised integrity.”
The newspaper said last week that the current state comptroller, Joseph Shapira, handed in the draft report to Netanyahu after it had been scrutinised by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein.
According to the report, foreign organisations and businessmen funded trips made by Netanyahu, his wife and his children. In some cases, more than one entity contributed to funding a trip by the family.
“On some flights, [Netanyahu’s] children’s fares were funded by foreign organisations. Several flights have also been found in which Mr Netanyahu was funded by one foreign organisation, while his wife and assistants were funded by another… In the state comptroller’s opinion, such funding, which adds up to tens of thousands of dollars, constitutes reception of a banned gift, and in some cases even a violation of integrity,” Shapira wrote.
“The funding was provided with no legal examination of the possibility of conflict of interest… The entirety of the findings… with their severity, quantity and scope, reveal a worrisome picture that points to the acceptance of benefits by Mr. Netanyahu that approaches suspicion of compromised integrity,” he added.
The state comptroller decided in September to close the file on Netanyahu’s trips as long as he remained in opposition.
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