Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that it was the "wrong time" for lawmakers to approve retroactive tax benefits for him worth an estimated NIS 1 million (some $270,000) but still insisted that the decision was justified.
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The Knesset's Finance Committee's decision last week to approve the retroactive tax exemption met with scathing criticism as it came at a time when Israel is grappling with a major economic crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic and Netanyahu standing trial on corruption charges.
"The Finance Committee hearing last week was justified but at the wrong time," Netanyahu asserted in a tweet.
"I should not be charged with a personal levy that has never been imposed on any other prime minister. But the timing was not right, and for that I am sorry."
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The tax benefits approved last week by the Finance Committee cover the cost of taxes related to vehicle overhauls, renovations to his private residence in Caesarea as well as other expenses dating back to 2009.
In 2018, the Israeli parliament passed a law that exempted the prime minister from taxes for many of his private expenses, which gave Netanyahu financial benefits amounting to NIS 200,000 ($58,300) a year.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
