Netanyahu quizzed over foreign trips in 'Bibi Tours' affair

State Comptroller Joseph Shapira questioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday over the circumstances surrounding a number of trips he took abroad that were said to have been financed by wealthy foreign associates during his tenure as finance minister under then-premier Ariel Sharon, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Shapira, the retired judge, conducted the session with Netanyahu at the prime minister’s residence.

The saga has been labeled with the moniker “Bibi Tours” by the press since it was first reported by Channel 10 back in 2014.

The premier requested a hearing with the comptroller in order to plead his case and present his arguments in the hopes that Shapira will take his statements into account when releasing his report on the case.

Netanyahu was eager to hold the hearing in order to explain the reasons for the trips taken by him and his family at the expense of well-heeled donors.

According to the Channel 10 report, on two separate instances, two organizations paid for Netanyahu’s flight ticket. It was learned that one of the organizations paid for Netanyahu’s ticket, while the other paid for his wife, Sara, even though the receipts were printed on Netanyahu’s name.

The details of the report were submitted to then-comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who ruled that there was enough evidence to warrant a criminal investigation.

There were also suspicions that Netanyahu was gifted with flight tickets during his tenure as a member of Knesset. Lindenstrauss was legally unable to review these cases since his jurisdiction was strictly with those in the government. As a result, these cases were handed over to Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein for a preliminary review.

In September 2014, Weinstein decided to close the case after the police and prosecutors informed him that there was no evidentiary basis for an indictment.

Source: MENA