Benjamin Netanyahu freezes ice-cream deal worth £2,000

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Benjamin Netanyahu could get a chilly reception when he next addresses his household staff after cancelling an annual ice-cream order worth almost £2,000.

The Israeli prime minister is currently working on putting together his latest coalition weeks after a general election, which was fought largely on economic issues – many of Israel’s main parties agree that public spending cuts are inevitable in the country, where prices are rising sharply.

Mr Netanyahu cancelled the contract which allowed his office to commission a local shop to supply his official residence in Jerusalem only hours after local media reported that his office had special dispensation to stock his freezer with taxpayers’ money – his own favourite flavours are apparently vanilla and pistachio.

Mr Netanyahu’s office said that the deal with the shop was, “a master contract meant to accommodate guests at the prime minister’s official residence, and did not necessarily mean the entire sum would be spent.”

Even Israel’s opposition could not take the move by Mr Netanyahu entirely seriously – Labor’s chairperson, Shelly Yacimoivh, took to Facebook where her page showed a photo-shopped image of the Prime Minister holding an ice-cream cone. “If there's no bread, let them eat ice-cream,” Ms Yacimovich wrote.