Israel seeks private funders for 70th anniversary celebrations

The Israeli Cabinet yesterday approved a bill which allows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seek 100 million Israeli shekels ($25.9 million) in private funding for the celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of establishment of the state in 2018, Arab48.com reported.

The ministers who approved the bill, which was proposed by Netanyahu, ignored the corruption allegations which claimed Netanyahu personally benefited from collecting money from wealthy people abroad for the public use.

According to the Israeli economic newspaper The Marker, government sources casted doubts around this bill, noting that the country should pay for such celebrations from its budget as it had in previous years.

It noted that Israel spent 150 million shekels ($38.8 million) on its 60th anniversary celebrations; however, the budget allocated for those celebrations was only 100 million shekels ($25.9 million).

According to the bill, the prime minister is authorised to collect funds on condition of keeping secret the names of the funders. In such cases, The Marker noted, the amount of the collected funds remains unknown.

Chairman if Yesh Atid party, Ofer Shelah criticised the bill, saying: “This bad bill, which was approved by the cabinet, decided to turn the head of the government to the official beggar in the country…It is a shameful act.”

Yesterday evening, Netanyahu was questioned by the Israel Police for three hours at his official residence in Jerusalem over suspicion of receiving gifts from businessmen in breach of his role as a public servant, Ynet News reported.