An alleged double payment for one of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanayhu's trips abroad was actually a single payment from an organization with two names, sources in the Likud said Thursday evening.
The Channel 10 program HaMakor claimed that two organizations, the Ashdod Medical Center and the Jewish Heritage Foundation International, had both paid for a 2006 trip to New York. Invoices listing an identical sum were shown as proof.
In fact, the Heritage Foundation is the group that fundraises for the Ashdod Medical Center in the United States, according to Netanyahu's attorney, David Shimron.
That is the reason why both groups told reporters they had paid the bill, even though one of the two bills was cancelled, Likud sources said. The Ashdod Medical Center's invoice was cancelled when it was discovered that the Heritage Foundation planned to raise funds to cover the trip, but Medical Center officials responded in the affirmative when asked if they had paid – meaning that their sponsor had come up with the money for the trip.
Shimron reiterated Thursday that there was “not a single cent of double funding” for Netanyahu's trips.
“We understand that criticizing heads of state is part of a journalist's job, but we expect that what is published should be true,” Shimron said. “Last night – what was broadcast was not true... In light of this, the Netanyahu family will file suit for slander next week over the falsehoods broadcast last night.”
Sources involved in HaMakor said in response that they had presented the Prime Minister's Office with the evidence they gathered well before the program was aired, and questioned why there had been no response prior to Thursday.