Prime Minister Netanyahu
Photo: Roee Idan
AG scraps 'Bibi tours' probe into Netanyahu
Attorney General Weinstien clears Netanyahu off wrong doing in scandal in which Netanyahu allegedly double-billed donors for reimbursements for string of flights; affiliate claim tickets belong to Sara, double-billing just 'misunderstanding'.
The attorney general has decided to scrap an investigation into alleged misconduct by Prime Minister Netanyahu as part of what has been called the 'Bibi Tours affair' in which Netanyahu and a group of Knesset members were suspected of licitly receiving reimbursement for flights abroad.
According to Weinstein, after three years of investigation "the accumulated material indicates no investigation into criminal offences on the part of Netanyahu. Therefore I have decided to end my probe into this affair," the attorney general wrote.
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The probe dealt with a number of cases of alleged double-billing by Netanyahu for a number of flights in 1999-2008 – after Netanyahu's first tenure as prime minister, while he was an MK.
In his decision, Weinstein wrote that that he joins the police's endorsement, as well as that of State Attorney Shai Nitzan, who unanimously said there was no need for investigating into the flights further.
A 2011 Channel 10 investigative report revealed that Netanyahu traveled abroad at the expense of various businessmen during the time he served as MK and finance minister between his two terms as prime minister.
Nonetheless, he requested Netanyahu supply information regarding two 2006 flights, one to London and the other to New York.
Netanyahu affiliate, Lawyer David Shomron said the relevant information was passed on to the attorney general, and said the "mistake" stemmed from the fact that Sara Netanyahu – the prime minister's wife – was registered under her husband's name, thus giving the impression that Netanyahu himself was reimbursed twice for the same flight.
According to Shomron, Netanyahu's August 2006 flight to London was funded by the Knesset, while Sara's was funded by a Jewish group.
Regarding he flight to New York from September 2006, he also said they stemmed from a mistake, and said the Jewish group filed two invoices for two different flights, but each invoice noted another name of the organization, thus again mistakenly indicating double-billing.
