State Comptroller and Judge Micha Lindenstrauss is investigating reports that Defense Minister Ehud Barak overspent on his recent trip to the annual Paris Air Show. Complaints to his office noted that Barak, who was heavily involved in business deals during his departure from politics several years ago, took along 38 people in his entourage.
The bill for his hotel room was 2,500 Euros ($3,500) a night, according to Israeli media, and hotel rooms for each of his staff ranged for the most part around $300 a night.
One of the charges is that the entourage flew Business Class instead of regular class, in violation of accepted standards set by the Accountant General. Several people reportedly slept in fancy hotel rooms, all at the taxpayers’ expense and despite the Finance Ministry’s attempts to grapple with an unmanageable budget that has forced cutbacks in social spending and tax hikes.
A spokesman for the Defense Ministry said that “only” three people in the entourage traveled Business Class and that most of the travelers stayed in “moderately-priced” hotels at a price that saved taxpayers from having to pay for breakfast, which was served as part of the deal.
“The person who determines if we acted correctly is the Comptroller, who has a professional staff, and not the media or the Finance Ministry," the spokesman said.