i24 News – Israel’s “Air Force One” built for former prime minister Bibi Netanyahu with an estimated cost of $240m has been placed in storage by the current Bennett-Lapid government.
The plane dubbed “Wing of Zion” took years to outfit but has never been used sparking controversy over taxpayers money spending. The blame for that ostensibly goes to Netanyahu who is currently facing several bribery and corruption charges.
“It’s the current government of Naftali Bennett that doesn’t want to use it because they see that plane as an example of what they consider the wastefulness, the extravagance of the Netanyahu years,” Ben David noted.
He added that there was vast criticism for Netanyahu because he made a lot of trips abroad and often stayed in luxury hotels. Another issue that raised public concerns was that the former prime minister always brought his wife along on work trips as well as his son.
Moreover, the plane can carry up to 100 passengers while governmental delegations usually do not exceed 60 people. Ben David argues that in future Israeli prime ministers could have more staff traveling along because of security issues. The plane in question is a modified Boeing 767 that previously belonged to Australian Airlines and Qantas.
A similar situation has been unfolding with the prime minister’s residence, which is currently located in a fairly modest house in Balfour in a residential area of Yerushalayim.
Plans were made by Netanyahu’s government for a new residence to be built that would combine the prime minister’s office and house. The spot was picked out for the “Israeli White House” but has been sitting empty for years. Its current estimated cost is $352m.
Ben David pointed out that in recent years Israel had trouble electing a prime minister that could either form a government or keep one stable, and creating proper conditions could be the necessary step to improve that situation.
“Maybe if we had a nice plane for a prime minister, maybe if we had a nice Israeli White House, maybe Israelis would take more seriously the job of choosing [prime minister] and more quality people would come to it,” said Ben David.
On Tuesday, as Matzav reported, an Israeli court denied prosecution’s request to amend Netanyahu’s gravest graft indictment in the infamous Case 4000. The former prime minister is currently facing criminal charges in two other trials.
