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Big spender - Barak
Photo: Gil Yohanan

State comptroller slams Barak's wastefulness

Report criticizes exaggerated spending at defense minister's traditional Independence Day party

The traditional Independence Day party hosted by the defense minister has turned into an orgy of spending during Ehud Barak's term in office, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss charges.

 

The Defense Ministry spent about NIS 1.5 million (roughly $400,000) on the latest annual party, which included more than 6,000 invitees and saw fundamental flaws in organizing the function, the comptroller's report said.

 

Meanwhile, Barak has ordered the flawed identified by Lindenstrauss to be corrected ahead of the upcoming Independence Day, the defense minister's office said.

 

The defense minister holds a festive reception every Independence Day at the Defense Ministry's headquarters in Tel Aviv. The official event caters to various guests, including members of the General Staff, foreign military attaches, and police representatives, among others.

 

The guest list to the party includes a "defense minister's guest list," which is not subject to any external monitoring; the scathing report noted that the number of invitees under this category, determined by the minister, his wife, and his aides, grew by 230% in the years 2004-2009. Meanwhile, the number of invitations extended by the IDF decreased by about 20%.

 

In last year's party alone, a total of 2,187 invitations were sent to invitees on the defense minister's guest list. Moreover, the comptroller charged that many of Barak's guests includes individuals with a seemingly slim connection to an official Defense Ministry function, including businesspeople, journalists, authors, and Labor Party members. For example, a total of 151 journalists were invited to the event in 2009, compared to 70 in 2004.

 

"Such conduct, which is undertaken in violation of the rules of proper administration, constitutes a fundamental flaw, especially when dealing with many guests whose importance and relevance to the function is unclear," the comptroller's report said. "This is especially grave as we are dealing with a major official function by the defense establishment… that has great public prominence."

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.25.10, 18:12
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