Comptroller likely to send prime minister draft report on expenses within weeks

Opposition leader Herzog: Netanyahu's spending is disproportionate and does not respect the public’s criticism.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB, LAHAV HARKOV
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira said on Monday he hoped to publish a special report on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s expenses within approximately two weeks, Army Radio reported.
“The issue will be reviewed and recommendations made,” Shapira said.
Following his appearance on Army Radio, Shapira’s spokesman clarified that a draft of the report would be sent only to “those being evaluated” within two to three weeks and that evaluations of the issues were at a “very intense stage.”
The spokesman added that following receipt of comments from those being investigated and review of those comments, a final report would be made public at a later date.
Opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Labor) said while Netanyahu deserves respect and that the government should cover the expenses of his job, his spending is disproportionate and does not respect the public’s criticism.
“He needs to remember that the public gives him the ticket to enter the Prime Minister’s Residence, and the public can remove him from there,” Herzog said.
Herzog also called for a law to be passed requiring transparency in the prime minister’s expenses.