[JURIST] Israel’s attorney general [official website] on Monday ordered a criminal probe into excessive residential spending by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu [official website]. The announcement [Times of Israel report] came after the state comptroller [official website] reported that large sums of public money were spent on food, furniture, cleaning and gardening at Mr. Netanyahu and his wife’s official residence in Jerusalem and their private home in Caesarea, an exclusive coastal city. Cleaning expenses at their private home averaged $2,100 a month in public money, even though the couple rarely stays there. Mr. Netanyahu’s office declined to comment.
This is not the first time that and Israeli prime minister has gone through a criminal investigation. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of accepting bribes [JURIST report] relating to the construction of a luxury apartment complex called the Holyland towers in 2014.