The Knesset Finance Committee voted 8 to 5 on Tuesday afternoon to approve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for nine years of tax refunds on expenses at his private home in Caesarea that were paid by the state. The coalition succeeded in passing the proposal, despite Blue and White MKs boycotting the meeting, because Blue and White had given Likud one of its places on the committee in the coalition agreement. Coalition chairman Miki Zohar told the committee that the taxes Netanyahu was asked to pay were unprecedented, unfair and would leave the prime minister “financially handicapped.” He said the prime minister was being “persecuted.” “Does it seem sensible to you that the prime minister of Israel, who has the most complex job in the Middle East and maybe the world – will only make 17,000 shekels a month after taxes?” Zohar asked. Opposition MKs said they spoke to MKs in Blue and White who told them privately that they were too ashamed to vote for the allocation of hundreds of thousands of shekels to Netanyahu. But they also could not violate coalition discipline by voting against the proposal. Yesh Atid MK Mikki Levy, a former Jerusalem police chief, asked for a summons for Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and members of his party. Prime Minister’s Office interim director-general Ronen Peretz told the committee that the rules for funding the prime minister’s official and private residences had been set in 1982 and since then, no prime minister was asked to return taxes on expenses. “It doesn’t matter if the expenses were 100 or 1 million shekels,” he said. “This was the rule, and it hasn’t changed.” But former prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak and former prime minister Ariel Sharon’s son Gilad Sharon told Globes political correspondent Tal Schneider that the reason they did not pay taxes on expenses received from the state for their private residences is that they never asked the state to pay for any of their expenses.
The tax refunds were formally requested by Peretz from the Finance Committee to repay the money for services and benefits, excluding paychecks and pension, in the time between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2017. The committee was set to vote later Tuesday on another proposal to fund the office of Alternate Prime Minister that is currently held by Gantz and is set to be Netanyahu’s role when he switches jobs with Gantz in November 2021 according to the coalition agreement. Gantz asked Finance Committee head Moshe Gafni to relinquish several expenses tied to his post, but the coalition agreement and laws would have to be changed for that concession. “Shame is dead and we are watching the funeral,” Opposition leader Yair Lapid told his Yesh Atid-Telem faction. “It’s a long funeral procession with a convoy of cars, 36 ministers, 16 deputy ministers, two Audi A8s at the front and two at the back. They have no shame.” Lapid questioned whether Netanyahu and Gantz realize what they are doing to the Israeli public, when there are a million unemployed and small businesses are collapsing. “They don’t only have an alternate residence, they have an alternate conscience, too,” he said. “They are totally shut off from the world and disconnected from what’s happening in our country.” Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman expressed similar outrage in a meeting of his faction. “In a time of crisis, leadership must present a personal example,” he said. “Instead, what we are getting is a loss of shame. The prime minister is asking for benefits and tax returns of more than a million shekels, instead of cutting ministers’ salaries. Netanyahu and Gantz care only about themselves and not about the needs of the public.” Meretz faction head Tamar Zandberg said at her faction meeting that she believes a majority can be achieved to block the allocation in the Finance Committee. “Instead of dealing with unemployment for the self-employed or desperate help for culture workers, our prime minister, who has been indicted for bribery, will ask for another bribe,” she lamented. The Likud downplayed Netanyahu’s request. “Netanyahu is not asking for any special treatment,” the party stated. “The Finance Committee will demand Netanyahu pay taxes just as previous prime ministers have. Here there was an outrageous, personal attempt to have Netanyahu pay a tax no other prime minister had to pay. There will not be one law for Netanyahu and one for previous prime ministers.” N12 reported that Gantz will receive a benefits package that will later be given to Netanyahu as well, as agreed upon in the coalition agreement. Gantz vowed to give up expenses regarding the alternative Prime Minister’s Residence, its employees or other expenses it entails, as well as expenses for his family. In the document given to the Finance Committee it was stated that: “The Treasury will handle all the expenses to maintain and operate the Prime Minister’s Residence, including its staff, the prime minister’s expenses as well as those of his family, the costs for having guests and any other expense necessary. “The alternative prime minister will be allowed to inform the general-manager of the Prime Minister’s Office that his private residence, be it in Jerusalem or outside the city, will be used as an alternative residence to that provided by the country itself, but it will have ‘identical conditions to those of the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, including staff, the prime minister’s expenses as well as those of his family, the costs for having guests and all expenses of the building itself.” Gantz and Netanyahu, as alternate prime ministers will enjoy storage services: “The prime minister and the alternative prime minister will be allowed to store the belongings of their residences using the State Treasury’s money” in the case that their apartment or private home is not managed in a state account. On top of that, the transport of said belongings will be paid for by the state as well. Arik Bender and Anna Barsky of Maariv contributed to this report.
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