Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman have both flown to New York but in separate planes.
Netanyahu flew out this morning to address the UN General Assembly. He leased a plane to fly together with his entourage, security staff and journalists. Liberman flew out last night with his entourage, also to New York, on a commercial flight, to hold a series of meetings at the UN in New York with other foreign ministers including those of Canada, India, Austria, Greece, and Rwanda.
Netanyahu leased a 200-seat Boeing 767, much larger than required for his entourage, and most of the passengers will have the luxury of spreading out over three seats.
A spokesman in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was unable to estimate how much the flight for Liberman and his entourage will cost taxpayers. However, estimates are that the fares for his entourage of seven will cost at least $7,000, while Liberman himself will fly business class, and this is before the cost of flying the Foreign Minister's bodyguards to New York is taken into account.
Liberman's spokesman dismissed suggestions that the public's money is being wasted and said, "The Foreign Minister has a different and separate schedule from the Prime Minister during the visit to the UN. Even before the Prime Minister arrives in New York, the Foreign Minister would have already held meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Greece and Austria, and he also returns to Israel a day before the Prime Minister."
The Prime Minister's Office is yet to comment.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 28, 2014
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