Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized Foreign Minister Israel Katz to accompany his wife Ronit on trips abroad, Gidi Weitz revealed in Haaretz on Thursday.
According to the report, the Foreign Ministry's Director General, Yaakov Blitshtein, upon taking office, approached the Prime Minister’s Secretary, Yossi Fox, and asked him for blanket approval for Katz's wife to join his travels.
The regulations governing ministers' rights on official trips state that "a minister or minister's spouse may include their spouse on their official trips at private expense."
It is clarified explicitly that "a spouse shall not accompany trips at state expense except in exceptional circumstances, with the Prime Minister's approval, for reasons specified in writing by the minister to the Prime Minister (such as medical reasons or special ceremonial circumstances requiring the spouse's presence)."
According to the report in Haaretz, Katz requested general approval from the Prime Minister upon assuming office so that he would not need specific approval for each trip.
According to the assessment, Ronit Katz's participation in the trips makes them considerably more expensive since it involves expenses for business class flights and accommodation.
Foreign Affairs Ministry responds
The Foreign Affairs Ministry commented, "The wife of the Foreign Affairs Minister is allowed to regularly join the trips that her husband, the Foreign Affairs Minister, takes abroad by virtue of his position, similar to the wives of the President of the State, the Prime Minister, and other individuals, in accordance with the existing law and regulations. This is public and official information, and any attempt to distort the facts will not change them."