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The Knesset voted on Tuesday a law exempting the prime minister from paying taxes on certain property and effectively increasing his annual net salary up to NIS 200,000 ($ 55,000).
The legislation, which was submitted to the Knesset in less than a month via an expedited legislative procedure, was pbaded by 50 votes to 44 after the legislators rejected hundreds of reservations to the law presented by opposition MPs.
The new law, drafted by MP Likud Miki Zohar, who is considered a loyalist of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will offer the Prime Minister "a tax exemption for payments, services and gifts entrusted to him in the framework of his work, excluding his salary ", according to the text of the legislation.
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The tax administration estimated that the measure could increase the Prime Minister's annual salary up to NIS 200,000 per year, taking into account tax refunds and expenses at the residence of the Prime Minister in Jerusalem and his private residence in Caesarea. earns a gross monthly salary of 48,800 shekels ($ 12,500), according to a pay bulletin made public by the Prime Minister's Office in March 2016. After deduction of income, health insurance and tax deductions and vehicle expenses, the monthly net income of the Prime Minister Likud MP Miki Zohar speaks at a meeting of the Committee of Internal Affairs in the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on February 20, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
Introducing the bill at the Knesset plenary session, Zohar denied that the law was created for the financial benefit of Netanyahu and his wife Sara, both of whom are currently accused of corruption and embezzlement from the state, saying was focused on future prime ministers and aimed to encourage the public to enter politics.
"This law is directed toward prime ministers [future] who are unable to give up a career [high-paying] to serve the state of Israel". I said. "If you want a prime minister to function properly, without financial worries, you must pay him a fair wage."
Zohar, however, said that with his current salary, Netanyahu was unable to pay for the maintenance of his coastal villa in Caesarea
Netanyahu is currently the richest member of the Knesset in Israel. In 2015, Forbes magazine estimated its net worth at NIS 42 million ($ 11 million).
The bill was proposed following a decision of the High Court in December. owned by the couple, but defined as an official residence of the state, account as taxable benefits granted to an official.
The final version of the bill omitted a previous proposal that the refund be granted retroactively to the Prime Minister in place, meaning Netanyahu Instead, the law will only act retroactively from January 1 2018.
Opposition deputies criticized the proposal, arguing that the public should not pay the bill for its private spending and that it was inappropriate to adopt such a law in the middle allegations of corruption against him.
"Why should the public pay for water in Netanyahu's pool? And why is it more important and more urgent than increasing old age pensions?" Asked the MP from the joint list Dov Henin in addressing the plenary before the vote
"A quarter of the elderly live below the poverty line.range additional benefits for the prime minister and his family. by the Netanyahu government is a shame, "added Henin.
The Zionist Union deputy, Micky Rosenthal, called the adoption of this law "low for the legislature"
. continued the theft of public funds to finance the hedonism of the Prime Minister and his family. Not only will we continue to fund the private expenses of the Netanyahu family, we will now pay the taxes on the benefits that they will receive. "
The bill comes as the Attorney General considers the police's recommendations to accuse Netanyahu of receiving illicit gifts and was sentenced for embezzlement by the state.
Netanyahu's finances have been the subject of intense public scrutiny and, sometimes, virulent criticism.Nos 80,000 ($ 20,000) a year for water in his home in Caesarea, a budget monthly NIS 10,000 ($ 2,500) for ice and a five-hour flight for NIS 450,000 ($ 125,000) on the plane
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the right, and his wife Sara in Jerusalem on May 16, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
In 2015, a report of the state controller found that the Prime Minister's spending the residence was excessive and inappropriate, putting in evidence of exorbitant expenses for food, cleaning and clothing, among other areas, and that budgeting practices were not conducted with integrity and transparency.
The controller pointed out and criticized, for example, hundreds of thousands of shekels spent on take-home food each year, even though the residence employed a cook; excessive spending for the couple's home in Caesarea, even though it was only used on weekends; and the employment of a member of the Likud Central Committee, Avi Fahima, as a private electrician on weekends and even on Yom Kippur at the home of Caesarea.
Some of these findings formed the basis of a fraud investigation against the Prime Minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, in which she was charged last month for charging 359,000 NIS (100,000 $) Gourmet meals at the expense of the state between 2010 and 2013, breaking the laws that prohibit the preparation of a chef at the official residence. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit
The Netanyahu denied wrongdoing, calling the indictment "a new summit of absurdity."
At the same time, Mandelblit also plans to bring charges of bribery against Benjamin Netanyahu in 1000, or the case of gifts, one of several corruption polls against the prime minister.
The case, which the police handed over to the prosecution in February with a recommendation for a bribery charge, implicates suspicions that the prime minister and his wife received illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors , including Israel-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian resort owner James Packer, in exchange for favors. Staff from Israel contributed to this report.
