Nov 1, 2012

Litzman Requests BMW 528

Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman gets the benefits of a full-fledged minister, despite being only a Deputy Minister. It was part of the original arrangement of his accepting the coalition offer from Netanyahu. Because UTJ has the policy of not taking ministerial positions in the government, Litzman was given the tile of deputy, but has full authority and benefits as if he were a minister.

Globes is reporting that Yaakov Litzman has requested a new car, the BMW 528. Litzman is the first minister to request this model of car. Litzman's request has been approved.

The BMW 5 series has a starting price of 355,000 NIS, and in the US, the 528 sedan starts at $45,000. This is a pretty expensive car.

Litzman needed a new car, even though elections are imminent, because his government authorized car was recently involved in an accident and needed to be replaced.

There is a lot of criticism of Litzman being publicized for this request. They say he does not need such an expensive car. I think the criticism is misplaced.

As long as the government offers a selection of cars to its ministers, any given minister can choose any given car that he prefers from that list. He did not make a special request for a car that was not in the list - he chose one that he was offered by the government. It might not look good, with elections on the way, but he has no primaries in which he needs to appear a certain way - Litzman is chosen for his position in the party.

Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz had mentioned that he would like to remove this car from the list, but he did not do so. If people, and the media, think that this car is a waste of government money, they should not be criticizing those in the government who use it - they should be petitioning the government to only offer more modest cars and not such expensive luxury cars.


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8 comments:

  1. I Gots to KnowNovember 01, 2012 2:22 PM

    I don't understand why he needs to work in any case.

    Didn't he say that the women can work and support husbands learning?

    I surmise that he skipped Tzahal service based on Toraso Umenaso so why isn't still in Kollel?

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  2. AnonymousNovember 01, 2012 2:57 PM

    If the government is paying for it, then they aren't paying taxes. So they're offering an important official a respectable car that costs them $45,000. Not the end of the world.

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  3. AnonymousNovember 01, 2012 2:59 PM

    I know, let's give him a deputy car, like a Kia or Hyundai that looks like the BMW and drives like it too.

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  4. ShmuelNovember 01, 2012 3:38 PM

    a German car?! oh, he was born in Germany....

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  5. AnonymousNovember 01, 2012 11:20 PM

    As a child of Holocaust survivors, it sickens me to see a Government minister of Israel request a German car. How quickly we forget.

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  6. AnonymousNovember 02, 2012 12:04 PM

    Germany gives vehicles to Israel on the cheep. I doubt it will cost the Government $45,000

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  7. AnonymousNovember 02, 2012 12:05 PM

    I think any car that costs more than a Mazda 5 should be removed from the list personally.

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  8. DavidNovember 02, 2012 1:47 PM

    It's not about his kavod, it's about kavod haTorah, silly.

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