Post by ihatemadonna on Jan 22, 2014 18:15:26 GMT -5
Get this. Goverment money from Israel was innaporpiately used to give Thiefdonna and her idiot manager free hotel rooms and free food. Money was wasted to film her. The stadium was rented for almost free. Stupid Hagdonna has to get away with everything as peoples tax money was used on her flop show.
www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.570026
Madonna’s stadium performances in Israel in 2009 are at the center of a chapter of a recent state comptroller’s report focusing on the conduct of then-Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beiteinu) and ministry officials.
According to the report, issued on Wednesday, Misezhnikov went out of his way to sponsor the events: His welcome speech was broadcast, against the law, to the 100,000 viewers; he received VIP tickets worth 2,500 shekels ($715) each, in violation of the Civil Service code, and allowed his ministry to host Madonna’s personal manager and his wife in luxury hotels and give them spa treatments worth 17,000 shekels.
Tourism Ministry officials saw Madonna’s two shows here in 2009 as a significant opportunity to promote tourism in Israel. The shows themselves attracted 6,000 tourists from abroad, and ministry officials hoped that photographs of Madonna touring the Holy Land would bring thousands more tourists to Israel.
The ministry rented four giant screens, at a cost of 56,000 shekels, to broadcast Misezhnikov’s welcome speech at the shows. It was accompanied by his image, a violation of the Elections Law (Advertising Methods), which prohibits cabinet ministers from using public funds for their own publicity.
Misezhnikov told the state comptroller that he was unaware of the actions taken at the initiative of his bureau chief. But the state comptroller discovered that a few months before, prior to the performance of a different foreign band, the ministry had printed advertising flyers for the show that included remarks from Misezhnikov. Misezhnikov denied any involvement in the incident.
The state comptroller also criticized the acceptance by Misezhnikov and three ministry employees of five VIP tickets, worth 2,500 shekels each. While the ministry’s legal adviser approved the arrangement, the state comptroller determined that it was illegal.
The event producer said he had given the ministry 25 complimentary tickets, some of them VIP tickets, but ministry officials did not know what had happened to them. According to the state comptroller, accepting the tickets was against the law, a violation of an explicit directive of the attorney general and against the Civil Service code, which states that free tickets are a reward, and accepting such rewards is not allowed.
Misezhnikov said that he needed the VIP ticket for his job, saying that “his presence at events in which the Tourism Ministry is involved gives them an official character and contributes to the State of Israel’s public relations.” Ministry officials said the purpose of Misezhnikov’s tickets was to enable him to meet with VIPs as the “hosting minister.” But the state comptroller determined that if the ministry felt that Misezhnikov’s presence at the event was important, it should have paid for the tickets out of its own budget.
The waste of public funds did not stop at the shows. The ministry hosted Madonna’s manager and his wife in luxury hotels all over the country for five days, in violation of ministry protocol regarding invited guests. According to protocol, the ministry may pay for half-board accommodations only, spouses not included.
The report notes that the ministry footed the bill for Madonna’s manager and his spouse – 17,000 shekels in all shekels. It included stays in luxury hotels at the Dead Sea and in Eilat, a meal at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, spa treatments, yachting in Eilat, diving with dolphins, camel rides and a jeep tour. In addition, the ministry gave tours worth 5,000 shekels to dancers in Madonna’s entourage even though they did not belong to any of the categories – “journalists, shapers of public opinion or policy makers in the tourism field” – the ministry may host, according to its own protocol.
The ministry wanted to give Madonna tours of Israel, photographs from which could be used to promote tourism to Israel, but the singer declined the offer. Still, the ministry spent around 25,000 shekels to film Madonna on private tours she took during her visit. These videos turned out to be of such poor quality as to be unusable.
“None of the employees who received a free ticket, and of whom it was claimed that they received them so as to supervise communication with the producer, supervised the production of the video. They did not watch the video before the shows and they could not report what was actually screened,” the state comptroller wrote.
Misezhnikov said in response: “All recommendations by the state comptroller that appear in the report were carried out three years ago, during my term as minister, by my direct order and that of the director general.
“Regarding me personally, the whole controversy is between the directives of the ministry’s legal adviser, who gave approval, in writing, to my attending the performance as part of my job, and those of the attorney general. During that same time period, I certainly could not be a party to this disagreement, and I obeyed the directives of the ministry’s legal adviser. But this disagreement, too, was placed in the clarification of the procedures and implemented for the future. It is fairly absurd now to bring up the report’s conclusions, which were implemented fully years ago,” Misezhnikov said.
www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.570026
Madonna’s stadium performances in Israel in 2009 are at the center of a chapter of a recent state comptroller’s report focusing on the conduct of then-Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov (Yisrael Beiteinu) and ministry officials.
According to the report, issued on Wednesday, Misezhnikov went out of his way to sponsor the events: His welcome speech was broadcast, against the law, to the 100,000 viewers; he received VIP tickets worth 2,500 shekels ($715) each, in violation of the Civil Service code, and allowed his ministry to host Madonna’s personal manager and his wife in luxury hotels and give them spa treatments worth 17,000 shekels.
Tourism Ministry officials saw Madonna’s two shows here in 2009 as a significant opportunity to promote tourism in Israel. The shows themselves attracted 6,000 tourists from abroad, and ministry officials hoped that photographs of Madonna touring the Holy Land would bring thousands more tourists to Israel.
The ministry rented four giant screens, at a cost of 56,000 shekels, to broadcast Misezhnikov’s welcome speech at the shows. It was accompanied by his image, a violation of the Elections Law (Advertising Methods), which prohibits cabinet ministers from using public funds for their own publicity.
Misezhnikov told the state comptroller that he was unaware of the actions taken at the initiative of his bureau chief. But the state comptroller discovered that a few months before, prior to the performance of a different foreign band, the ministry had printed advertising flyers for the show that included remarks from Misezhnikov. Misezhnikov denied any involvement in the incident.
The state comptroller also criticized the acceptance by Misezhnikov and three ministry employees of five VIP tickets, worth 2,500 shekels each. While the ministry’s legal adviser approved the arrangement, the state comptroller determined that it was illegal.
The event producer said he had given the ministry 25 complimentary tickets, some of them VIP tickets, but ministry officials did not know what had happened to them. According to the state comptroller, accepting the tickets was against the law, a violation of an explicit directive of the attorney general and against the Civil Service code, which states that free tickets are a reward, and accepting such rewards is not allowed.
Misezhnikov said that he needed the VIP ticket for his job, saying that “his presence at events in which the Tourism Ministry is involved gives them an official character and contributes to the State of Israel’s public relations.” Ministry officials said the purpose of Misezhnikov’s tickets was to enable him to meet with VIPs as the “hosting minister.” But the state comptroller determined that if the ministry felt that Misezhnikov’s presence at the event was important, it should have paid for the tickets out of its own budget.
The waste of public funds did not stop at the shows. The ministry hosted Madonna’s manager and his wife in luxury hotels all over the country for five days, in violation of ministry protocol regarding invited guests. According to protocol, the ministry may pay for half-board accommodations only, spouses not included.
The report notes that the ministry footed the bill for Madonna’s manager and his spouse – 17,000 shekels in all shekels. It included stays in luxury hotels at the Dead Sea and in Eilat, a meal at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, spa treatments, yachting in Eilat, diving with dolphins, camel rides and a jeep tour. In addition, the ministry gave tours worth 5,000 shekels to dancers in Madonna’s entourage even though they did not belong to any of the categories – “journalists, shapers of public opinion or policy makers in the tourism field” – the ministry may host, according to its own protocol.
The ministry wanted to give Madonna tours of Israel, photographs from which could be used to promote tourism to Israel, but the singer declined the offer. Still, the ministry spent around 25,000 shekels to film Madonna on private tours she took during her visit. These videos turned out to be of such poor quality as to be unusable.
“None of the employees who received a free ticket, and of whom it was claimed that they received them so as to supervise communication with the producer, supervised the production of the video. They did not watch the video before the shows and they could not report what was actually screened,” the state comptroller wrote.
Misezhnikov said in response: “All recommendations by the state comptroller that appear in the report were carried out three years ago, during my term as minister, by my direct order and that of the director general.
“Regarding me personally, the whole controversy is between the directives of the ministry’s legal adviser, who gave approval, in writing, to my attending the performance as part of my job, and those of the attorney general. During that same time period, I certainly could not be a party to this disagreement, and I obeyed the directives of the ministry’s legal adviser. But this disagreement, too, was placed in the clarification of the procedures and implemented for the future. It is fairly absurd now to bring up the report’s conclusions, which were implemented fully years ago,” Misezhnikov said.
