I’ll pay for my own fast food, says Israel’s PM after £6k bill
NAFTALI BENNETT, the prime minister of Israel, has said he will fork out for his own takeaway meals after a public backlash over him spending taxpayers’ money on fast food.
Mr Bennett, 50, admitted he had recently spent the equivalent of nearly £6,000 on takeaway food for his residence in Tel Aviv following an investigation by an Israeli broadcaster.
He insisted he had not broken any rules and said his personal expenses are vastly lower than his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, who garnered a reputation for lavish spending.
“Attempts to present me as a hedonist are simply funny,” the prime minister claimed this week as he said he would now pay for food out of his own purse.
Unlike Mr Netanyahu, who made use of rules allowing the prime minister to have a personal chef, Mr Bennett was ordering restaurant food to feed his family of six.
The prime minister’s penchant for takeaway food could also be linked to the fairly recent arrival of Deliveroostyle apps in Israel.
“Although our behaviour was in accordance with the rules, I am aware of the feeling created in the public. Therefore, I announced to the staff of my office that from now on, all of my family’s food expenses will be paid from my personal account,” Mr Bennett said.
“I am not in this job for money or respect, but to serve the citizens of Israel with all my might, and that is what I’ll continue to do,” he added.
Mr Bennett, who leads the hardright Yamina party in the Israeli parliament, is at the head of a fragile coalition government which brought together centrists and Left-wingers following inconclusive election results last year.
It also includes an Arab party, Ra’am, the first to join a governing coalition in Israel’s history.
Mr Bennett unseated Mr Netanyahu, his former mentor, who is currently on trial for corruption and fraud charges that he vehemently denies.
Mr Bennett also broke with tradition from Mr Netanyahu by remaining at his home in the Raanana suburb after he took office in June, instead of moving into the official prime minister’s residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem.