Bibi’s $1,700 Scented Candle Bill
Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Israel’s first family seems to like its creature comforts. The prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem spent $1,700 on scented candles and more than $4,200 on wine in 2012. There was also some $2,600 spent on mezuzahs.
The water bill for the Netanyahus’ personal home in Caesarea was more than $20,000, possibly due to the home’s private pool. The flower bill was $5,700 and the dry cleaning tab came to $2,800.
Spending on Netanyahu’s three homes, which also include a private Jerusalem home, amounted to $934,000 in 2012, according to a report by the Israeli government watchdog group Movement for Freedom of Information. The group obtained the figures after filing a court petition. The amount is more than double that spent by then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in 2008.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
