A report issued over the weekend showed that government ministries spent hundreds of millions of shekels on outside services – with the Finance Ministry alone spending NIS 447 million on services from private contractors. Among the expenses were an outlay of NIS 26.5 million by ministries on accounting and legal services, with the Education Ministry alone paying NIS 10 million for accounting services.
Among those expenses was a NIS 54,000 trip for Finance Minister Yair Lapid to the US earlier this year. Lapid flew business class, and received VIP treatment during his US tour. The sum is for tickets and travel only, and does not include costs for hotels stays, meals, etc.
The Agricultural Ministry was the biggest consumer of legal services, spending NIS 2.55 million on outside legal help. The Finance Ministry spent NIS 1.4 million on such services, with the Jerusalem law firm of Yigal Arnon receiving NIS 700,000 of that sum for various legal services and consultations. The Ministry also spent hundreds of millions of shekels during 2013 on information technology services, mostly to set up a new computer system.
The report also listed some of the more interesting smaller outlays by ministries. The Finance Ministry spent NIS 50,000 on four seminars on the Holocaust for employees, presented by officials of Yad Vashem. A million shekels of the Treasury's budget went to fill the gas tanks of employees, while NIS 50,000 was spent on dry cleaning of drapes in Ministry offices. Snow removal during the winter of 2013 from the Treasury's parking lot cost NIS 9,000, and a Hanukkah celebration at the Jerusalem Science Museum for Finance Ministry employees cost the taxpayers NIS 43,000.
Among the less conventional expenses was the outfitting of cars of several top officials with refrigerators. The Treasury spent NIS 3,534 on that for Deputy Finance Minister Mickey Levy's car, while the Agriculture Ministry spent NIS 3,787 on a refrigerator for the ministry's director general.
None of the ministries discussed in the report had any comment on their expenses and outlays.