Revealing the Travel Costs of the Israeli Minister of Economy for 2025

SadaNews Economic Translation - On Friday, the costs of flights taken by Israeli Minister of Economy Nir Barkat abroad in 2025 were revealed.

According to the Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot, as translated by SadaNews Economics, the cost of the trips amounted to 1.6 million shekels.

According to the newspaper, Barkat spent 60 days abroad in 2025, during which he visited India, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the UAE on official missions for his ministry. He also traveled twice to the United States, as well as to the Philippines, Japan, France, Switzerland, and Germany.

It was noted that Barkat holds the record for the current Israeli government for the most flights taken in 2025, except for Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who flew more due to his position.

Barkat confirmed that he pays for his travel expenses from his own funds, while the newspaper confirmed that this information is accurate, indicating that the hefty costs paid from "state" funds for the Minister of Economy and his accompanying delegations on their foreign trips amounted to 1.6 million shekels, which is separate from what he pays out of his pocket.

Details reveal that his five-day visit to the UAE cost 100,694 shekels, with Barkat personally covering his flight tickets, which amounted to about 14,000 shekels, while the travel tickets for his delegation members totaled about 21,000 shekels. In addition to the delegation members' travel costs, about 13,000 shekels were spent on refreshments, approximately 29,000 shekels on accommodation, and around 28,000 shekels on vehicles, while the government paid 3,583 shekels for a photographer, as SadaNews Economics translated.

It was revealed that more than 100,000 shekels of government funds were spent on Barkat's three-day trip to Switzerland, over 160,000 shekels for four days in Belgium and the Netherlands, around 320,000 shekels for accommodation in the United States in May of last year, and that costs for accommodation in the Philippines exceeded 200,000 shekels, while costs for accommodation in Japan and the United States in September reached nearly half a million shekels.

Barkat's first trip was to Switzerland, where he paid for his tickets himself, which amounted to about 9,300 shekels, while the government covered the tickets of his companions, which totaled around 5,000 shekels. During that three-day trip, the government spent approximately 50,000 shekels on accommodation, over 40,000 shekels on vehicles, and around 7,000 shekels on access to the waiting lounge.

During his four-day stay in India, the Israeli government paid nearly 20,000 shekels, mostly for car rentals.

The trip to Belgium and the Netherlands cost about 162,000 shekels, with the minister personally covering the trip's cost of about 9,000 shekels, while the government paid about 17,000 shekels for the travel tickets of four of his accompanying delegation members. The accommodation costs in the Netherlands and Belgium, where the minister stayed for four days, totaled at least 50,000 shekels, with over 10,000 shekels paid to a photographer and about 56,000 shekels for vehicle costs, while the cost of a lunch with investors exceeded 6,600 shekels.

In May, with a total trip cost of 322,282 shekels, Barkat embarked on an 11-day journey to New York and Washington, personally covering his flight tickets, which amounted to 23,821 shekels, while he paid nearly 50,000 shekels for the travel tickets of his delegation members from government funds. Among other expenses, he spent over 110,000 shekels on accommodation at the destinations in the United States, approximately 127,000 shekels on vehicles, and paid the photographer about 8,700 shekels.

In June, the minister stayed in France and covered the costs of his flights this time, in addition to other costs amounting to 146,000 shekels for a three-day stay in France. Among these costs, about 12,000 shekels were spent on refreshments, around 6,000 shekels for a photographer, 10,700 shekels for a translator, about 8,000 shekels for VIP services at the airport, and roughly 77,000 shekels for accommodation and transportation.

In July, the Israeli minister spent 12 days in the Philippines, with a total cost of about 204,000 shekels, alongside the flight tickets which he personally covered, spending around 50,000 shekels on flight tickets for delegation members, a little over 8,000 shekels on refreshments, about 27,000 shekels on accommodation, and nearly 62,000 shekels on vehicles. He also paid 42,748 shekels from government funds under the item "Ministerial Hospitality - Dinner Party", according to SadaNews Economics translation.

In September, Barkat traveled for 16 days to Japan and the United States, with total costs approaching half a million shekels, paying around 283,000 shekels for accommodation in Japan, including around 70,000 shekels for the flight tickets of the ministerial delegation, in addition to approximately 66,000 shekels for accommodation, and about 63,000 shekels for renting vehicles. During the stay in Japan, he also spent 72,435 shekels from government funds, while the costs for accommodation in the United States that month totaled 212,431 shekels, including nearly 96,000 shekels for accommodation, around 82,000 shekels for renting vehicles, about 6,500 shekels for a photographer, and around 5,000 shekels for VIP services at the airport.

Heidi Negev, the CEO of the Israeli Freedom of Information Movement, said: "In the past three years, while we all suffer from the woes of war and the economic crisis, we are discovering once again how disconnected the government ministers' trips are from their reality... Foreign expenditures and trips that are completely disproportionate to the standard of living here."

Meanwhile, Barkat's office defended him, stating that these flights were necessary and important and that he was working with international entities and companies to promote the Israeli economy.