The Knesset Ethics Committee has ordered Defense Minister Ehud Barak to pay out of his own pocket for having upgraded his and his wife's seats on a Tel Aviv-New York flight last year from business to first class at the taxpayer’s expense.
National Union Knesset Member Uri Ariel had complained to the committee that Barak acted improperly. Following the Ethic Committee’s decision, MK Ariel commented, “This is not the first time and probably not the last time that Ehud Barak displays himself as being someone who loves life's luxuries.”
The committee took no punitive action against the Defense Minister because it said he acted in good faith without intention of defrauding taxpayers. Barak argued that he thought he and his wife were entitled to the upgrade because he is a former prime minister.
Photo: Ehud Barak Barak’ spending habits have included $1,000-a-night hotels in a luxury Paris hotel and expenditures of more than one million shekels ($260,000) in public funds for business class seats and first-class hotels for an entourage of 34 people at the Paris Air Show.
State Comptroller and Ombudsman Micha Lindenstrauss investigated the outlays and charged the Defense Minister, who is also chairman of the Labor Party, with wasting taxpayers’ money. Barak responded that he was not personally responsible for the expenditures, which were authorized by his ministry. He promised to institute procedures to prevent further expenditures that are beyond the norm.