Benjamin Netanyahu requested tax refund worth thousands of shekels

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested from the finance committee a tax return worth hundreds of thousands of shekels as payment for taxes which he has paid over the last decade.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz arrive at the Knesset plenum to vote on four no confidence votes against the government (photo credit: KNESSET PRESS SERVICE/ADINA VALMAN)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz arrive at the Knesset plenum to vote on four no confidence votes against the government
(photo credit: KNESSET PRESS SERVICE/ADINA VALMAN)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not succeed in passing his request for nine years of tax refunds on expenses at his private home in Caesarea that were paid by the state in Tuesday's meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee, the heads of the opposition said Monday.
Opposition MKs said they spoke to MKs in Blue and White who told them privately that they are too ashamed to vote for the allocation of hundreds of thousands of shekels to Netanyahu. It remained unclear on Monday night whether coalition discipline would be strictly enforced for the vote.
"This is a winnable battle," Opposition Leader Yair Lapid told The Jerusalem Post at the Knesset. "It ultimately depends on Blue and White MKs being honest with themselves."
Ministerial Liaison to the Knesset David Amsalem (Likud) told the Knesset plenum that Netanyahu had been taxed unfairly in a manner that was not applied to any of his predecessors.
"The tax authorities have changed the rules," Amsalem said. "The prime minister is not really getting a single shekel." 
But former prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak and former prime minister Ariel Sharon's son Gilad Sharon told Globes political correspondent Tal Schneider that the reason they did not pay taxes on expenses received from the state for their private residences is that they never asked the state to pay for any of their expenses.
The tax refunds were formally requested by Prime Minister's Office Director-General Ronen Peretz from the Finance Committee to repay the money for services and benefits, excluding paychecks and pension, in the time between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2017. Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz asked Finance Committee head Moshe Gafni to relinquish several expenses tied to his post, but the coalition agreement and laws would have to be changed for that concession.
"Shame is dead and we are watching the funeral," Lapid told his Yesh Atid-Telem faction. "It's a long funeral procession with a convoy of cars, 36 ministers, 16 deputy ministers, two Audi A8s at the front and two at the back. They have no shame."
Lapid questioned whether Netanyahu and Gantz realize what they are doing to the Israeli public, when there are a million unemployed and small businesses are collapsing.
"They don't only have an alternate residence, they have an alternate conscience, too," he said. "They are totally shut off from the world and disconnected from what's happening in our country."

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Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman expressed similar outrage in a meeting of his faction.
"In a time of crisis, leadership must present a personal example," he said. "Instead, what we are getting is a loss of shame. The prime minister is asking for benefits and tax returns of more than a million shekels, instead of cutting ministers salaries. Netanyahu and Gantz care only about themselves and not about the needs of the public."
Meretz faction head Tamar Zandberg said at her faction meeting that she believes a majority can be achieved to block the allocation in the Finance Committee.
"Instead of dealing with unemployment for the self-employed or desperate help for culture workers, our prime minister, who has been indicted for bribery, will ask for another bribe," she lamented.
The Likud downplayed Netanyahu's request.
"Netanyahu is not asking for any special treatment," the party stated. "The Finance Committee will demand Netanyahu pay taxes just as previous prime ministers have. Here there was an outrageous, personal attempt to have Netanyahu pay a tax no other prime minister had to pay. There will not be one law for Netanyahu and one for previous prime ministers."
N12 reported that Gantz will receive a benefits package that will later be given to Netanyahu as well, as agreed upon in the coalition agreement. Gantz vowed to give up expenses regarding the alternative Prime Minister's Residence, its employees or other expenses it entails, as well as expenses for his family..
In the document given to the Finance Committee it was stated that: "The Treasury will handle all the expenses to maintain and operate the Prime Minister's Residence, including its staff, the prime minister's expenses as well as those of his family, the costs for having guests and any other expense necessary.
"The alternative prime minister will be allowed to inform the general-manager of the Prime Minister's Office that his private residence, be it in Jerusalem or outside the city, will be used as an alternative residence to that provided by the country itself, but it will have 'identical conditions to those of the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, including staff, the prime minister's expenses as well as those of his family, the costs for having guests and all expenses of the building itself."
Gantz and Netanyahu, as alternate prime ministers will enjoy storage services: "The prime minister and the alternative prime minister will be allowed to store the belongings of their residences using the State Treasury's money" in the case that their apartment or private home is not managed in a state account. On top of that, the transport of said belongings will be paid for by the state as well.
Arik Bender and Anna Barsky of Maariv contributed to this report


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