Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has announced that he will no longer use the public budget for food expenditures at home.
This issue entered the national agenda after a TV channel reported on the high expenditures in Bennett’s home, which he also used as his office, unofficially.
After that, Bennett announced that an average of 26 thousand 400 dollars (approximately 390 thousand TL) collected from taxpayers every month is used for expenses in his house, and 7 thousand 400 dollars of this monthly is spent on food.
Explaining that during the former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s term, 84 thousand 300 dollars were spent per month both at the prime minister’s residence and at Netanyahu’s house, Bennett added that these expenditures were made in accordance with the rules.
BBC Jerusalem Correspondent Yolande Knell reports that expensive hairdressing expenses and luxury restaurant bills were also on the agenda in the country during Netanyahu’s prime ministership.
Knell says that Bennett continues to live in his house in the Raanana district of Tel Aviv instead of sitting in the prime minister’s residence to make himself look different from Netanyahu, which is a controversial decision.
Bennett, who defended himself with a Facebook post on Sunday, stated that although the prime ministers were given this right, his family of six did not hire a private chef, instead they ordered food from restaurants.
Bennett shared that the Netanyahu family’s monthly food expenditure is around $11,100.
Making another statement last night, Bennett said, “Even though my spending is in line with the rules, I am aware of the public feeling this creates. That’s why I told my employees to make all of my family’s food expenses from my personal account from now on.”
“I am doing this work not for money or reputation, but to serve the citizens of Israel.”
Before Bennett entered politics, he founded two companies and sold them for $250 million.
Bennett’s salary as prime minister is $16,500. The average salary in the country is around $3,400.
Responding to Bennett, Netanyahu’s Likud party stated that since Bennett’s house does not have an official office, these expenses are only personal expenses, and the monthly personal restaurant order amount of the Netanyahu family does not exceed 400 dollars.