By AFP
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Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech on December 1, 2013 at the Great
Synagogue of Rome. PHOTO | TIZIANA FABI | FILE AFP
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Israeli
Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, decided not to attend a memorial service
for Nelson Mandela this week because it is too expensive to travel to South
Africa, Israeli media reported Sunday.
Netanyahu
had notified the South African authorities that he would fly in but cancelled
his plans at the last minute due to the costs involved - around 7.0 million
shekels ($2 million, Sh172 million) for his transport and security alone,
public radio and the Haaretz daily reported.
"The
decision was made in light of the high transportation costs resulting from the
short notice of the trip and the security required for the prime minister in
Johannesburg," Haaretz reported.
The
Israeli leader has been in the spotlight recently with revelations that
taxpayers dished out almost $1 million (Sh86 million) last year to maintain his
three residences.
The
media highlighted a bill of 17,000 euros ($23,000, Sh2 million) for water to
fill a swimming pool at his villa in Caesarea in the country's north.
Israeli
leaders have paid warm homage to the former South African president who died
after a long illness at the aged of 95.
Netanyahu
paid tribute to Mandela as "a man of vision and a freedom fighter who
disavowed violence".
But
some commentators have noted that Israel maintained close relations with the
apartheid-era regime until the United States said the ties could threaten
Washington's generous annual military aid to the Jewish state.
After
his release from 27 years incarceration in 1990, Mandela, who first visited
Israel and the Palestinian territories in 1999, was an ardent supporter of the
Palestinian cause but also a firm believer that Israelis would ultimately take
the path of peace.
"In
my experience I have found Jews to be more broadminded than most whites on
issues of race and politics, perhaps because they themselves have historically
been victims of prejudice," Mandela wrote in his 1994 autobiography.
South
African Jews played a prominent role in the struggle against apartheid, among
them late communist leader Joe Slovo, who headed the ANC's military wing.
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