Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could be facing a criminal investigation following a government report that said he and his family spent public funds excessively on personal items.
The report issued Feb. 17 by State Comptroller Yosef Shapira cited the excessive spending at the official prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem and at the family’s private home in Caesarea. Among the categories are food, cleaning and clothing expenses.
Evidence from the report was forwarded to Israel’s attorney general, Yehuda Weinstein, for a possible criminal probe.
Among the affairs that could be criminally prosecuted are the so-called bottle and garden furniture affairs.
In the bottle affair, the prime minister’s wife, Sara, is accused of pocketing funds received from recycling state-funded beverage bottles. In the garden furniture affair, the Netanyahus are accused of purchasing new furniture for their private home that was intended for the official residence.
The report also found that cleaning expenses at the Netanyahus’ official and private residences doubled from 2009 to 2011 to about $280,000 at the official residence alone, though after publicity they came down in 2012 and 2013.
Shapira also said that finances at the prime minister’s residence were poorly managed and lacked appropriate budgeting practices.
In response to the report, the Likud Party headed by Netanyahu released a statement ahead of national elections saying that the media coverage of the report “was a clear effort to remove the prime minister from office and the Likud from leadership through a focus on irrelevant minutia and distract from the real issues at hand.” — jta