No fewer than three ministers, a deputy minister, and one director general installed a refrigerator in their attached government vehicle in 2013. These are Education Minister Shai Piron, Science Minister Yaakov Perry, Deputy Finance Minister Mickey Levy, all three from Yesh Atid, which has enacted the new politics under its banner, as well as Absorption Minister Sufa Landver ("Yisrael Beiteinu") and Agriculture Ministry Director General Rami Cohen. The expense is relatively low, ranging between 3,500 and 5,475 shekels, but government officials admitted that, given the rising cost of living in Israel, this is conduct that conveys detachment.
Reports from the various government ministries' contracts with external suppliers indicate that savings are not necessarily one of the most prominent features. Data published by the Freedom of Information Movement over the weekend shows that in the Ministry of Education, for example, spending on food and refreshments amounted to over a million shekels in 2013, of which about 28,000 shekels were for "refreshing the minister at the Knesset cafeteria," 6,266 shekels for sandwiches for meetings of Minister Piron and the ministry's director general, Michal Cohen, and 950,000 shekels for "hospitality and refreshments" for meetings over a period of eight months alone.
In addition, the payment for refreshments at the CEO changeover ceremony cost almost 10,000 shekels, refreshments for the situation room during the week of the "Steadfast Front" exercise cost 5,500 shekels, refreshments for the Passover toast ceremony with the minister's participation cost 6,600 shekels, the expense for refreshments at the Rosh Hashanah ceremony was 9,800 shekels, and refreshments worth 12,000 shekels were ordered for the opening of the school year. The Ministry of Education could not explain the amount of the expense at the Knesset cafeteria in light of the fact that the ministry's budget authorizes expenses up to 700 shekels per month.
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The light hand on the food is rivaled only by the one responsible for ordering new furniture. The reports show that just days after taking office, Piron and the director general of the office ordered chairs, cabinets and other furniture worth 84,000 shekels for the two men's offices. The accommodation services for the two men and Deputy Minister of Education Avi Wortzman in various hotels in Jerusalem and Kfar Maccabiah cost the taxpayer an additional 70,000 shekels. All of this refers only to the second half of 2013.
The reports also reveal how much the foreign flights of the Minister of Education and his office staff cost. In 2013, the expenditure on flights for Ministry of Education staff and the minister amounted to over 500,000 shekels, including 11 flights, three of which were to Poland: in October, the minister flew for a cost of 56,000 shekels, in April the expenditure was 24,000 shekels, and in July, the minister also enjoyed VIP services at the airport for a cost of 1,000 shekels. The minister's trip to the US in November cost the taxpayer 30,000 shekels.
It also emerges that two press conferences held by the Minister of Education, just one day apart, cost 30,000 shekels to rent equipment for them.
Other notable engagements: 388,000 shekels were paid for writing a Bible quiz for adults, 10,000 shekels were spent on installing mezuzahs, materials for building a sukkah were purchased for 11,000 shekels, and the visit of the Barcelona soccer team last year cost 1 million shekels from the Ministry of Education's budget.
