Israel’s Netanyahu under fire for costly lifestyle

JERUSALEM — For years, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been saddled with an image of a cigar-smoking, cognac-drinking socialite. Now a new disclosure about his soaring spending on housekeeping, furniture, clothing and other expenses is increasing pressure on him in a country whose leaders once were known for washing their own dishes and taking out the garbage.

The uproar, which began with a TV station’s report that Netanyahu spent $127,000 in public funds for a special sleeping cabin on a recent five-hour flight to London, fuels criticism that he is out of touch with average Israelis who are struggling with tax increases amid a huge budget deficit.

Netanyahu’s expenses have soared nearly 80 percent since he took office in 2009, totaling about $905,000 last year, according to a civil liberties group that obtained government figures after filing a freedom of information request.

His spending on catering, housekeeping, cleaning, furniture, clothing and makeup all doubled during the four-year period, according to the group, called the Movement for Freedom of Information.

Netanyahu and his family split their time among three homes, including an official Jerusalem residence, a private apartment in Jerusalem and a villa in the upscale coastal town of Caesarea.

Although Netanyahu was re-elected in January, his victory margin was much narrower than expected. The vote came on the heels of a protest movement against Israel’s high cost of living and widening gaps between rich and poor, and the campaign focused largely on domestic economic issues.

The new national budget, passed Monday, increases income, sales and real estate taxes while cutting family subsidies and medical benefits. Additional taxes were also slapped on cigarettes, alcohol and luxury goods.

Against this backdrop, veteran Israeli political reporter Shimon Shiffer recounted in the Yediot Ahronot daily that Netanyahu and his wife Sara are always accompanied abroad by hairdressers and makeup artists. On a recent flight with Netanyahu, he said he saw two young men holding large bags.

“For a moment, under the influence of movies I’d seen about things that can happen in the American president’s plane, I thought that it might be the suitcase containing the codes to operate the nuclear weapons that Israel allegedly possesses,” he wrote.

“A brief investigation turned up slightly less heroic results: The two men were hairdressers who had been flown … to make sure his hair was properly styled and brushed,” Shiffer wrote.

In a statement, the prime minister’s office said the figures included expenses for events and working meetings that took place at the official residence.

Israeli leaders were once lauded for their modesty. Prime ministers lived in humble homes, took the bus to work and performed household tasks like washing the dishes and taking out the garbage. But as Israel has evolved from its socialist, agrarian roots to an affluent, high-tech power, its leaders have also taken a liking to the spoils of office.

Netanyahu isn’t the first leader to be criticized by Israelis for living it up. Former Defense Minister Ehud Barak angered his Labor party supporters with a lavish lifestyle that included buying a Tel Aviv apartment reportedly worth more than $10 million. And Ehud Olmert, who served as prime minister before Netanyahu, was known for his love of the finer things in life like fancy pens and cigars.

Israeli leaders are of course not alone in this regard. Two runways at Los Angeles International Airport were shut down for nearly an hour in 1993 while U.S. President Bill Clinton got a haircut from a high-priced hairdresser while Air Force One sat on the tarmac. He later said it was a mistake and that he never meant to inconvenience anyone.

Though not linked to major corruption scandals like some of his predecessors, Netanyahu has developed a reputation for small-scale antics with the public coffers.

Earlier this year, Netanyahu was forced to stop buying ice cream from his favorite Jerusalem parlor after an Israeli newspaper discovered his office was spending $2,700 a year for the treat.

His wife has also come under fire for reportedly treating her domestic staff poorly, her expensive tastes and for insisting on traveling overseas with her husband.

Reflecting the public mood, famed Israeli photographer David Rubinger published a photo he took in the early 1980s of then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin slouched across two seats in a plane, sound asleep, his legs covered by a simple red blanket. In an accompanying essay, he said the image highlighted how leaders have since abandoned their role of setting personal examples.

“I grew up at a time when half the ministers in the Israeli government were kibbutz (collective village) members, who on Saturdays would go home to their kibbutzim to work in the kitchen,” he wrote in Yediot Ahronot. “I don’t think the prime minister has to sleep in a seat. Maybe some kind of bed has to be provided for him, but it should be done at the right time, not the same week that cuts are being made to others.”

Netanyahu is said to have a painful back condition.

The Israeli prime minister’s office does not have its own plane, in contrast with the U.S. presidential aircraft, Air Force One. Instead, Israeli leaders must charter a plane when traveling abroad. Some analysts say it would be cheaper in the long run to purchase and maintain a special plane reserved for official travel by the prime minister and other officials.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.