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Binyamin Netanyahu is at the center of yet another scandal regarding his misuse of public funds.
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The Israeli Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot (Latest Information) is reporting that Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has opened an investigation into accusations that the country’s Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, used public funds to purchase garden furniture at his private residence in the Israeli coastal city of Caesarea. The money used was intended for the purchase of furniture in the official Prime Minister’s residence in Jerusalem alone, according to the accusation.
The investigation resulted from a report sent to the attorney general’s office by Israel’s State Comptroller Joseph Shapira after claims were made against Netanyahu by former employees of the Prime Minister’s Residence. In Israel, it is the job of the State Comptroller to review all government expenditures and to alert the proper authorities if he believes that any government funds have been misappropriated.
The newspaper asserts that a senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office placed the order for the furniture which was supposed to be used at the official residence. After it arrived there, the furniture was transferred to Netanyahu’s Caesarea home and the old furniture there was in turn taken to the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.
The furniture reportedly cost Israeli tax payers NIS 30, 000 or roughly $8, 500.
In response to the allegations Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office stated that it was not aware of any investigation by Attorney General Weinstein into the matter. A statement was released which said, “To remove any doubt, we state that, belying the claims in the report, the furniture purchased is located at the official residence in Jerusalem, and is not in Caesarea.”
