Benjamin Netanyahu Is Addicted to Ice Cream

Talk about soft news!

It’s being widely reported that in order to satiate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s late-evening cravings for glidah, a special budget of 10,000 shekelim ($2,700) had to be created to stock the PM’s residence with the good stuff.

The Prime Minister’s Residence had already spent NIS 3,000 on ice cream by May of last year, and therefore filed a special request for budgeting thousands of shekels more for ice cream from a nearby shop that Netanyahu especially liked, the financial newspaper Calcalist reported Thursday night.

The request mentioned no less than three times that the gelateria was selected “on the personal taste and desire of the prime minister” and because it was “near the official residence… and open until late hours.”

What flavors does the Israeli premier prefer? Well, fortunately, he appears to have avoided the hummus ice cream crazy that took hold of Israel last summer, angling instead for vanilla sorbet–no word yet if it’s French vanilla, that might not be palatable (politically speaking)–and pistachio.

Given the amount spent on ice cream last year, there are some estimates that suggest the Prime Minister’s residence went through 167 kilograms (or nearly 370 pounds) of ice cream in 2012.

Looks like Bibi is really putting the lick in Likud.

PM’s ice cream habit costs thousands [Times of Israel]
Israeli Ice Cream Shop Serve Hummus Ice Cream [ABC]