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Fireworks explode over the Knesset during Independence Day celebrations in Jerusalem in May. (Bau Bau) Last update - 09:06 04/06/2008 When Israel's 60th anniversary celebration turns into a deficit By Lior Dattel, TheMarker Tags: Anniversary, Israel  Raised voices and arguments could be heard in the Prime Minister's Office this week. It was not a turbulent meeting over talks with Syria, but over the management of celebrations for Israel's 60th anniversary. One month after the last Independence Day fireworks had died out, problematic conduct by groups involved in organizing the celebrations is threatening to cancel some of the 60 events planned to mark the anniversary. This is the last thing that the 60th celebrations headquarters needs. Harsh public criticism of the budget allocated for the celebrations, NIS 99.6 million, inspired headquarters chairman Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila (Kadima) to publicly pledge that at least the budget would not be exceeded. But according to a report by the Finance Ministry's accountant general, NIS 33.2 million has already been spent, and only 13 events and projects have been carried out - and there are concerns that the remaining funds will be insufficient to cover the cost of the remaining events. Which raises the question: How did the funding fall short? Problematic management, it would seem. Advertisement Tenders were not always issued for suppliers, and the terms of tenders that were issued were not always adhered to. Moreover, the calculations that formed the basis for budgeting the events were not always based on careful preparation. At the flagship event on the eve of Independence Day, fireworks filled the skies and simultaneous multimedia shows took place at eight different sites. Two bodies were behind these shows: The Ariel Municipal Corporation, which won the tender, and Gil Teichman, who was hired by Ariel to produce the event. The final price tag for the shows was NIS 11.5 million  NIS 1.5 million more than the assigned budget. One possible reason for this deviation is that no tender was issued for the production of this most expensive of all of the 60th anniversary events. Ariel was satisfied with a "request for information" (RFI), a preliminary process meant to assist government bodies in defining the terms of a tender. Such a process cannot by any means replace a tender. The Israel Experience, a subsidiary of the Jewish Agency, was to have handled the largest share of the budget: It was appointed to manage 27 events with a total budget of NIS 18.3 million. It is reasonable to assume that one of the reasons for its appointment was the low management fees it charged, of 4.5%. Ariel, in contrast, charged management fees of 7.5%, and received a budget of NIS 13.8 million for the management of three projects. Nevertheless, the accountant general's May report found that Ariel in fact managed events that cost a total of NIS 16.7 million - almost NIS 3 million more than prescribed. Another event that Ariel managed, for instance, the "Party of All Parties," was originally budgeted at NIS 3.5 million, but ended up costing NIS 4.1 million. In contrast, the Israel Experience, which was to have been the celebration's primary management company, has thus far been put in charge of events with a minuscule budget totaling just NIS 200,0000. Deviations from the budget originally allocated for the events managed by Ariel are good news for the company, since its management fees are a function of each event's budget. But because Avraham-Balila has undertaken not to exceed the budget, the celebration headquarters will now have to reduce budgeting for the events that have yet to take place. The Israel Experience was apparently unaware of how many events it was expected to manage - and discovered it only through TheMarker. Sources in the organization claimed it had been agreed that it would manage only five or six small events. It added that the division of events was decided by the 60th anniversary headquarters, and the Israel Experience was not a party to the decision. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Word wars Hamas reverses effort to improve portrayal of Jews in Palestinian text books. Cyber-pimps beware MK Gal-On's proposed bill would jail 'online brothel managers' for 5 years.   1.   A land without ganavim for ganavim without a land 01:51  |  Chanalau, Tova 04/06/08   2.   At least you don`t live among us, Ra`a 09:41  |  x-ray 04/06/08

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