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Last update - 22:40 19/10/2009
Israel's Napoleon: Ehud Barak's lavish lifestyle under scrutiny in Israeli media
By Haaretz Service
Tags: Yisrael Hayom, Ehud Barak 

As Defense Minister Ehud Barak continues to be the subject of a torrent of criticism over his extravagant spending on five-star hotels with the use of taxpayer money, Israelis are becoming increasingly aware of the decorated former general's lavish lifestyle.

According to an in-depth expose published on Sunday by the daily Yisrael Hayom, Barak would often use his high-rise luxury apartment in north Tel Aviv to host wealthy captains of industry, billionaire businessmen, influential journalists, foreign diplomats and dignitaries, and politicians whom he lobbies for support.

The newspaper cited one businessman who attended Barak's 65th birthday party. The former prime minister's hedonism has swelled to the point where he is totally disconnected from the average Israeli, the businessman told Yisrael Hayom. There is no chance Barak will return to the premiership, the source said.
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The two-page profile quotes a number of individuals on background who attest to Barak's newfound lust for money, and the power and status which is accorded by his wealth.

The former premier, who once boasted of his modest upbringing on a kibbutz and who just 10 years ago seemed to be on the verge of sealing a peace agreement with Syria and the Palestinians, now seems to be "living on another planet," said the newspaper, which is owned by Jewish-American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The newspaper also has a strong pro-Netanyahu line.

Barak likes to regale his guests in the spacious apartment while boasting of his various expensive "toys" and wares, including a sophisticated telescope which he used to peer out onto the city from the 31st floor, according to Yisrael Hayom. Barak this year put the 350-meter apartment in the prestigious Akirov Towers on the market for $10 million.

The defense minister has outfitted his residence with an automated sound and lighting system, electronic shutters, a dining table that can sit upwards of 40 people, and his most prized possession - an easel which holds a large photo album containing meter-by-meter pictures.

The album features a number of interesting figures, including one in particular that Barak likes to observe. It is a photograph of a young Carla Bruni, currently the first lady of France. She is seen in the photograph naked while sitting on her father's lap.

Associates who came into close contact with Barak paint a worrying picture of a man who has developed an unhealthy obsession with money.

"I became nauseous," one visitor, himself an affluent individual who was shocked by the defense minister's lavishness, told Yisrael Hayom. "I felt like I was going to throw up at any minute. I felt like a visitor in [Romanian dictator Nicolae] Ceausescu's mansion."

"It is as if the man has gone insane," the associate told the newspaper. "He lives in another universe, disconnected from the people, dizzied by money, enchanted by money, by power."

"He acts as if he conquered the palaces of Versailles yet he doesn't understand that he hasn't," the associate said. "When someone in the media labeled him Ehud Bonaparte Barak, I burst out laughing. That person did not know how right he was."

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  • Where else have Israeli politicians wasted taxpayers' money?
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      1.   Israel`s Napoleon 15:13  |  MAJ 19/10/09
      2.   Barak`s ego 15:14  |  Joseph 19/10/09
      3.   How disgusting 15:16  |  A mother 19/10/09
      4.   very good for him 15:26  |  heretic 19/10/09
      5.   This is the prelude 15:35  |  Leo 19/10/09
      6.   Obscene...But...... 15:38  |  Eli Freedman 19/10/09
      7.   did he steal the money? This is stupid. 15:42  |  JO 19/10/09
      8.   Being rich is not a crime & we shouldnt condemn him for being ric 16:10  |  zionist forever 19/10/09
      9.   My dining table does not seat 40, but ... 16:18  |  Jasper 19/10/09
      10.   No 6 -. Lavish lifestyle 16:37  |  Roslyn Steinberg 19/10/09
      11.   Ehud Barak`s lavish lifstyle. 16:39  |  David Nigel Braham 19/10/09
      12.   Barak .... 16:39  |  Philip 19/10/09
      13.   ehud barak`s lavish lifestyle 16:46  |  sharon 19/10/09
      14.   Seriously, who the F cares?? Are you THAT petty? 17:21  |  Yonah 19/10/09
      15.   Socialist talk can`t cover unearned riches, sense of entitlement 17:35  |  Raymond in DC 19/10/09
      16.   U expect him to make replica of kibbutz chadar ochel on 31 floor 17:37  |  Alan SA 19/10/09
      17.   His party should throw him out 18:08  |  Jack 19/10/09
      18.   The Emperor has no clothes 19:01  |  kochmologue 19/10/09
      19.   TYPICAL 19:16  |  dave austin 19/10/09
      20.   so:replace him by Amir Peretz??? 20:51  |  athos 19/10/09
      21.   conspicious consumption 20:52  |  Joe Zias 19/10/09
      22.   Begin, by comparison . . . 22:40  |  Zev Davis 19/10/09
      23.   The last days of the little NAPOLEON..... 00:22  |  another shimon.... 20/10/09
      24.   #14 Yonah, Gideon Levy has the right explanation 01:20  |  Johnboy 20/10/09
      25.   So are we to understand from this that 01:27  |  sean 20/10/09
      26.   Is not a lavish life style at public expense the due? 02:36  |  Mark Lincoln 20/10/09
      27.   Barak 08:35  |  Chaim Ben Kahan 20/10/09
      28.   #22 Mark Lincoln - your nice (and passé) idealistic post 08:53  |  S 20/10/09
      29.   Ehud Bonaparte 09:23  |  L Reik 20/10/09
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