{"id":32951,"date":"2013-05-12T19:06:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-12T18:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/netanyahu-in-hot-water-over-127k-mid-air-sleeping-chamber-amid-austerity-protests\/32951\/"},"modified":"2013-05-12T19:06:00","modified_gmt":"2013-05-12T18:06:00","slug":"netanyahu-in-hot-water-over-127k-mid-air-sleeping-chamber-amid-austerity-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/netanyahu-in-hot-water-over-127k-mid-air-sleeping-chamber-amid-austerity-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Netanyahu in hot water over $127k mid-air sleeping chamber amid austerity protests"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has found himself wrapped in a blanket of controversy over his posh in-flight sleeping arrangements. It comes after reports that he and his wife had a $127,000 bedchamber custom-built for a flight to London.<\/p>\n

The sum was tagged onto the $300,000 cost of chartering an El Al
\nBoeing 767 to fly the couple to former British Prime Minister
\nMargaret Thatcher\u2019s funeral last month, Israel\u2019s Channel 10
\ntelevision reported. Netanyahu\u2019s aides and bodyguards were also
\npresent on the flight.<\/p>\n

The chamber reportedly included a double-bed and was surrounded by
\nfour walls to give the couple complete privacy.<\/p>\n

News of the expenditure for the 5 \u00bd hour flight prompted a wave of
\noutcry throughout Israel\u2019s social media and newspapers.

“Bibi is king, and in a monarchy, when the king and queen fly,
\nprice is no object…where is the shame?”<\/i> political commentator
\nSima Kadmon wrote on the front page of Yedioth Ahronnoth, Israel\u2019s
\nlargest newspaper.<\/p>\n

Micky Rosenthal of the opposition Labor Party has called for an
\ninquiry into the prime minister’s “scandalous behavior,”<\/i>
\nMaariv newspaper reported.<\/p>\n

But Netanyahu\u2019s bureau said the prime minister was \u201cunaware of
\nthe high costs of installing a bedchamber on a plane,\u201d<\/i> Ynet
\nnews reported.<\/p>\n

“When the prime minister learned of the costs, he issued an
\norder not to install bedchambers on flights to Europe,”<\/i> the
\nbureau said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The office did add, however, that Netanyahu is entitled to a
\npeaceful rest after a busy day at work: The prime minister\u2019s flight
\nwas \u201cscheduled for midnight after a hectic day. The following
\nday, [he] was supposed to represent the State of Israel…in light
\nof this, it is appropriate that Israel\u2019s Prime Minister will be
\nable to rest the night between such busy days.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

A post on Netanyahu\u2019s Facebook page contained a link to a website
\ninviting people to sign a petition demanding he pay for the bed
\nhimself.<\/p>\n

It comes less than three months after it was discovered that
\nNetanyahu’s office had an annual budget of $2,700 to buy his
\nfavorite flavors from a Jerusalem ice cream parlor. The prime
\nminister stopped buying the treats after the news emerged.<\/p>\n

While Netanyahu is reportedly living in the lap of luxury, others
\naren’t quite so lucky.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, thousands of anti-austerity demonstrators hit the streets<\/a> in six cities across Israel, to
\nprotest against tax hikes and other belt-tightening measures
\nincluded in the country’s new budget.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on : RT<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has found himself wrapped in a blanket of controversy over his posh in-flight sleeping arrangements. It comes after reports that he and his wife had a $127,000 bedchamber custom-built for a flight to London. The sum was tagged onto the $300,000 cost of chartering an El Al Boeing 767 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32952,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32951","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32951\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}