Moments before elections: Itamar Ben Gvir files personal wealth declaration
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir has submitted his personal wealth declaration to the State Comptroller after three and a half years. The minister had previously ignored seven official reminders.
For about three and a half years, Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, like other members of the government, refrained from submitting a declaration of his personal wealth to the State Comptroller—a document intended to prevent conflicts of interest. This evening (Sunday), it was reported in the main news edition that moments before the elections, Ben Gvir "remembered" to suddenly comply with this requirement.
Outgoing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman had been sending reminders to ministers regarding their reporting obligations, and after they were ignored, he involved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the matter. Only last June did Ben Gvir send a report to the Comptroller regarding his personal wealth. The difficulty the Comptroller faces is that there is no legal sanction against a minister who refrains from submitting a wealth declaration.
It should be noted that this is not a public disclosure of sensitive financial data, but rather the transfer of a detailed declaration to the State Comptroller to ensure there are no conflicts of interest between the minister's personal assets and the issues his ministry is responsible for. This is an ethical rule that most government ministers follow, but it is not a law, and Ben Gvir stood out as a senior minister who ignored 7 reminders sent to him by the Comptroller.
Besides Ben Gvir, among the ministers who did not submit a wealth declaration are Yoav Kisch, Dudi Amsalem, and Ze'ev Elkin, as well as former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharren Haskel.
