News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s (Kadima) return from the City of Lights was paid for by the Israeli taxpayer.  Rather than wait four hours for the plane carrying the Prime Minister, FM Livni and her ten person entourage travelled first-class on an El AL commercial flight from Paris.

When the PM travels abroad, a plane is chartered from El Al for around NIS 300,000. During the PM’s current visit to Paris, this procedure was followed. Both the PM and the FM, along with their entourages and the press corps, travelled together last Saturday night to Paris.

Rather than wait today until the Prime Minister had finished with official business, Livni, two assistants, and her ISA bodyguards bought tickets on a regular El Al commercial flight, saving themselves about four hours of time at the cost of tens of thousands of the taxpayers’ shekels. According to reports,  Livni returned to Israel to face “timely” events such as a wedding she was invited to and a Foreign Ministry ceremony for Ambassadors finishing their terms of service.

Livni is widely held to be the front-runner as the successor for the leadership of the Kadima party. Part of her popularity is attributed to her "no frills", professional image and lack of association with known investigations into government corruption.