Ya'alon takes NIS 100,000 IDF helicopter flight to daughter's wedding

Just three days in the job, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon used an IDF helicopter to go to his daughter's wedding near Eilat.

Minister of Defense Moshe Ya'alon used an IDF helicopter to go to his daughter's wedding. Even as Minister of Finance Yair Lapid announced that he would not use the minister's car and chauffeur and would continue to use his private car, the new defense minister is willing to use ministry means for private matters. Last Thursday, just three days after taking up his post, Ya'alon's daughter wed at Kibbutz Grofit, near Eilat.

Because of marathon discussions at the Ministry of Defense, Ya'alon's bureau decided that he would use an IDF helicopter to go to the wedding in order to avoid disrupting the consultations even has he accompanied his daughter to the huppa.

Ya'alon's bureau said in response, "The defense minister flew to his daughter's wedding at Kibbutz Grofit, near Eilat, because he was engaged in urgent professional discussions and assessments through the afternoon at his office in Tel Aviv, instead of spending the day with his family at the wedding. To prevent the late arrival at his daughter's wedding, it was decided that there was no choice but for the defense minister to go to the wedding by helicopter."

A helicopter costs NIS 20,000 per hour of flying time. The Ministry of Defense says that Ya'alon's trip to the wedding cost roughly NIS 100,000, including 90 minutes flying time each way, and keeping the helicopter on the ground at the event. Defense sources said that the incident was scandalous, and that the helicopter was intended solely for operational needs.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 27, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

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