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World Jewish News
Peres traveled in U.S. on AIPAC bigwig's private jet
12.05.2009
President Shimon Peres and his entourage used a private jet belonging to businessman Daniel Abraham to travel between New York City and Washington during his visit to the United States last week.
The president was on official business, representing Israel at the annual conference of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. He was accompanied by Avi Gil, his external adviser on Middle East issues, whose services are provided for free. Abraham and Peres have been friends for many years, and Gil is Abraham's representative in Israel.
The president was invited to address the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in a letter signed by Wendy Singer that arrived on April 30. In it, the organization promised to provide a private jet to fly Peres between New York and Washington.
It is unclear whether AIPAC paid for the use of Abraham's aircraft or whether the flight was donated by the Abraham, a billionaire.
On Sunday, following a series of questions posed to the President's Residence by Haaretz, another short letter from Wendy Singer reached the president's office. In the letter, Singer thanked the director general of the President's Residence, Ofra Duvdevani, for Peres' participation in the AIPAC conference and stated that all the financial arrangements for use of the private aircraft were conducted between AIPAC and the provider of the jet.
Odit Sirkis, the legal counsel for the President's Residence, authorized the use of a private jet funded by AIPAC, on the basis of the invitation sent by the group in April. However, the invitation did not mention that the aircraft belonged to Abraham.
The President's Residence confirmed that the aircraft belonged to Abraham, but said that only a day prior to departure did they learn the jet was his, even though Gil had joined the president's entourage for the trip.
Sirkis justified her approval of the use of the private plane by saying that "since AIPAC is a known organization, which works in the U.S. for Israel, I thought there was no legal obstacle to having the organizing group pay for the flight of the president and his entourage if it offered to do so, since there is no conflict of interest in this group funding the flight, nothing unethical and no administrative irregularity."
Peres flew to the U.S. on a commercial flight, and upon his arrival, a private jet was waiting to take him to the AIPAC conference, where he spoke a day later. The expenses of the flight from Israel to New York and back, as well as the cost of his hotels, were covered by the State of Israel, as is standard for state representatives on official business abroad.
"We decided to save as much public money as possible, and therefore the president did not use an air force jet for the flight to the U.S.," a statement from the President's Residence read. The use of an air force jet costs hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"AIPAC made the private jet available so that the president would be able to meet his tight schedule that morning," the statement continued.
Abraham, the owner of the private jet, is an entrepreneur whose personal assets are valued at $1.5 billion. He has known the president for many years. The two have often discussed political issues over the years, and Abraham urged Peres to support the Arab Peace Initiative and promote it in Israel.
In November 2006, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss issued a report on the contributions that Peres received during his campaign to head the Labor Party in 2005. That report severely criticized the elder statesman, especially for raising $320,000 in contributions from three American businessmen, one being Abraham.
Abraham has continued to make contributions to activities headed by Peres, such as the President's Conference last May.
Avi Gil, who served as director general of the Foreign Ministry when Peres was foreign minister, serves as a diplomatic adviser to the president and has accompanied him on several trips abroad since Peres took office. Gil is also Abraham's representative in Israel and a senior research fellow at a research institute funded by Abraham. The institute's aim is to advance peace in the Middle East.
The president's spokeswoman said that Gil provides advice and analysis for Peres on request and without pay, and has completed all the necessary paperwork detailing areas in which he might have a conflict of interest in his association with the president.
Moreover, the statement said, at no point was Gil involved in the flight arrangements, neither with AIPAC nor with the President's Residence.
The spokeswoman reiterated that while the president is entitled to use an air force jet at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Peres opted to fly with a commercial airline and with a limited entourage, and then use a flight arranged by AIPAC, all with the aim of saving the taxpayer's money.
A spokesman for AIPAC said the organization had solicited the contribution of a private aircraft from a number of sources, and when it was unable to acquire a plane for the purpose of flying the president, it turned to Abraham. The President's Residence was informed two days in advance, but at no point did Peres request to fly on Abraham's jet, the spokesman added.
By Barak Ravid
Источник: Haaretz
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