Netanyahu flies into turbulence over $127,000 bed on plane

[malaise]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/12/netanyahu-turbulence-127000-bed-plane
<snip>
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has encountered severe turbulence after it emerged that he ordered a double bed to be installed on a plane that carried him and his deeply unpopular wife, Sara, to Baroness Thatcher's funeral in London last month – at a cost of $127,000 (£83,000).

The revelation comes amid growing resentment over an austerity budget proposed by the finance minister Yair Lapid, a former TV personality who won popular support in January's election by promising to champion Israel's financially squeezed middle class. Up to 15,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities on Saturday night in an echo of the massive social justice protests that swept the country two years ago.

Channel 10 pointed out that the Israeli president, Shimon Peres, who will be 90 next month, spent an 11-hour flight to South Korea seated in business class.

Writing in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, Sima Kadmon said: "We thought that nothing could surprise us anymore when it came to the Netanyahus' personal behaviour. Well, we thought wrong. It turns out that King Bibi and Queen Sara are entitled to do everything … The double bed that was installed on the plane cost the Israeli public, which is buckling under the weight of the austerity measures, half a million shekels. Is there no shame?"

[MrYikes]

1. With over 100 views, no one has replied to the question?

In Israel, IS THERE NO SHAME?

[malaise]

2. WHy would there be shame over a bed during austerity

when there is no shame re the slaughter of Palestinian children

[awoke_in_2003]

21. +1000. nt

[Gin]

3. Cant stand Bibi......he's a war monger......never heard anything about the wife....why is she so

disliked?

[malaise]

7. Don't know anything about her

[MADem]

8. This is the first I've heard of her, myself. Deeply unpopular?

Now I'm curious!



She doesn't look like a monster; then again, Warmonger Bibi looks like a Dutch Uncle. Looks are often deceiving.

[naaman fletcher]

10. Dutch uncle?

I was thinking Dutch Oven

[MADem]

12. Well, he knows how to turn up the heat...

But if you've ever seen interviews of him when he's relaxing with friends and family, and not dealing with political issues, he comes off as a real "Charlie Charm."

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. She is abusive and manipulative

and sues left and right to fix bad PR. She is just a nasty, nasty entitled 1%er.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/sara-netanyahu-first-lady-and-enigma-no-1.premium-1.504096

[librechik]

4. arrogant SOB n/t

[L0oniX]

5. Check for a $50,000 toilet seat too. n/t

[bike man]

6. And yet, the US continues to send them foreign aid dollars while some folks in the US

are homeless, jobless, hungry and have NO bed at all.

[zerosumgame0005]

11. are Israilies learning?

"Austerity" is only for the little peepels, not the Bibi's of the world!

[Dustlawyer]

13. She may have said, "Let them eat cake!"

[Divernan]

14. She is one vicious crazy person who has him whipped.

Last edited Sun May 12, 2013, 01:04 PM - Edit history (1)

This babe makes Marie Antoinette look like Mother Teresa.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/domestic-tantrums-keep-spotlight-on-sara-1288359.html


Sara Netanyahu is once more under attack for bullying her staff, her bodyguards, her hairdresser and her husband. "If the prime minister were to have seen what you did to his shoes, he would have butchered you," she screamed, as she hurled a pair of her husband's shoes that she considered improperly shined at Rachel Yaakov, who for 30 years had worked as a domestic servant in the prime minister's residence. Ms Yaakov, 60, now sits at home, though still paid by the Israeli state - one of a growing list of casualties of a Sara Netanyahu tantrum. Since her husband took office 18 months ago she has fired three nannies and two secretaries and become the most famously unpopular Israeli first lady ever.

Once she insisted her staff taste wine delivered to the residence in case it was poisoned. "It didn't matter to her that I die, the important thing was that she gets her wine," Rosi Perstai, her personal secretary, was quoted as saying by the daily Yediot Aharanot.

Most stories by former or current employees show her as inconsiderate, authoritarian and neurotic. When she fired Tanya Shaw, her first nanny, last year for burning the soup, she had her secretary search Ms Shaw's suitcase in case she had stolen anything. An eyewitness said: "Sara instructed her to shake every piece of clothing, even the nanny's used underwear and dirty laundry."

The most serious allegation is that she forced Mr Netanyahu to break all contact with Noa, his 19-year-old daughter from his first marriage. Last year, he even stopped support payments for her, until forced to resume them by the threat of legal action. The prime minister now only meets Noa late at night at his office and the meetings are kept secret from his wife.

[malaise]

17. Freaking wow

They probably deserve each other

[Ilsa]

20. What a classless bitch. nt

[Divernan]

15. "She's no Michele" reads the headline.

On a lighter note, the fashion police strongly disapproved of her recent choice for the Knesset swearing in - one otherwise serious article detailing how she controls his political alliances and meetings, stated:

When the new Knesset was inaugurated February 5, the big headline was the dress that Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife, chose to wear. One fashion critic famously said that the dress, semi-transparent in parts, made the 54-year-old resemble an advertisement for Michelin tires.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/172481/is-sara-netanyahu-the-erratic-power-behind-bibis-t/?p=all#ixzz2T67sZCKb


And in the blogging world:

Apparently inspired by the reunion of Destiny’s Child at the Super Bowl, Sara Netanyahu showed up at the swearing in of the 19th Knesset in a form-fitting — well actually more like skin-tight — lace dress with a see-through top.

While we all love a first lady who can part with convention, it gets a little scary when the shift in style appears to be inspired by the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

In the United States we have had some great sartorially rebellious first-wives, namely Michelle Obama and Jackie O, both of whom redefined femininity for a generation. Jackie O did it with her A-line dresses, pill box hats and pastel suits. And Michelle Obama has inspired many women with her bright colors, strong arms, and mixing of couture with J. Crew. These first ladies achieved fashion icon status because of they way they come off as elegant and graceful while also appearing modern and relevant.

But Netanyahu’s choice says something else altogether. When you get past its immediate message, which is “look at my breasts” (I feel terrible saying this about the Prime Minister’s wife, but really, what else is there to say?), you are left only to ponder whether she can actually move in it, and, if she can, whether she made it close enough to the mirror to see that she looks more like a caricature of a cougar in one of the “American Pie” movies than a cool and classy first lady à la Michelle and Jackie.

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/sisterhood-blog/170598/shes-no-michelle/#ixzz2T65OFZxO

[Ruby the Liberal]

16. It wasn't age appropriate or flattering

One has to wonder what conversation she had in her head about it before she put it on and walked out the door.

(Not a fan of Queen Sara)

[malaise]

19. I didn't even know he was married three times

I just know him as an extreme right wing scumbag

[Scurrilous]

18. What a clown. n/t