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Decision Regarding Knesset Salaries (Payments & Grants) - 2001
(Taken from a compilation of legislation and decisions regarding the salaries
and pensions of those holding governmental positions) - unofficial translation
The following is a summation of a decision of the House Committee based upon various
paragraphs of laws passed over the years regarding the salaries and immunities of Members
of Knesset: paragraphs 5 & 12 of "Members of Knesset Salary Law", 1949 (hereinafter - MK
Salary Law); paragraph 11 of "Members of Knesset Immunity Law" 1951 (hereinafter - Immunity
Law) and paragraph 16 of "The Knesset Law", 1994.
Paragraph "E": Contact with the Public
26. Aim:
The aim of this paragraph is to determine the annual budget entitled to a Member of Knesset to cover expenses necessary to sustaining contact with the electorate, including a parliamentary bureau as defined in paragraph 27(b). This is in order to fulfill his duties as an elected official. The Member of Knesset may use this annual budget for this purpose only, with appropriate care and according to the rules and standards determined in this paragraph.
27. Budget for Contact with Public & Parliamentary Bureau:
- A Member of Knesset is entitled to a yearly budget of 60,000 shekels to cover expenses sustained in maintaining contact with the public. The relevant expenses for this purpose will be determined and published by the Knesset Comptroller from time to time.
- A Member of Knesset who rents a parliamentary bureau in conformance with the instructions in paragraph 31 is entitled to an additional annual budget of 20,000 shekels. "Parliamentary bureau" is an office that enables the Member of Knesset to maintain contact with the electorate in accordance with an agreement between the Member of Knesset and the renter; and fulfills the requirements as set out in this paragraph, including a sign signifying that the office is the parliamentary bureau of the Member of Knesset.
28. Members of Knesset who have Ceased Serving
A Member of Knesset who has ceased service is entitled to the relative portion of his annual budget during the same fiscal year as stated in paragraph 27; according to the period of time the MK served in that same year.
29. Budgets of Ministers and Deputy Ministers
Notwithstanding the instructions in paragraph 27, a Member of Knesset serving as a Minister or Deputy Minister is entitled to an annual budget of 30,000 Shekels.
30. Entitlement of Ministers & Deputy Ministers to Relative Portion of Annual Budget
If a Member of Knesset is appointed Minister or Deputy Minister in the course of a fiscal year or ceases to serve as a Minister or Deputy Minister in the course of a fiscal year the following instructions will pertain for that fiscal year:
- A Member of Knesset appointed Minister or Deputy Minister before June 30 will be entitled to half the annual budget he would have been entitled to according to paragraph 27, and half the annual budget he is entitled to according to paragraph 29;
- A Member of Knesset appointed Minister or Deputy Minister on July 1 or after will be entitled to the proportional part of the annual budget as determined by paragraph 27 and the proportional part of the annual budget he is entitled to according to paragraph 29;
- For a Member of Knesset who ceases to serve as a Minister or Deputy Minister in the course of a fiscal year the instructions in (2) will pertain;
- A Member of Knesset who is appointed Minister or Deputy Minister in the course of a fiscal year and ceases to serve in the course of the same year will be entitled to the proportional part of his annual budget as determined in paragraph 29 as well as the proportional part of the annual budget he is entitled to according to paragraph 27 with the proviso that his annual budget will not be less than the annual budget as defined in (1).
31. Renting a Parliamentary Bureau
- A Member of Knesset will not rent a parliamentary bureau and will not receive an additional budget according to paragraph 27 (b) unless all the following conditions are satisfied:
- Notified the Knesset Comptroller of his desire to rent a parliamentary bureau and received a standard rental contract produced by the Knesset Comptroller;
- A copy of the rental contract was approved by the Committee to Scrutinize Contracts; "The Committee to Scrutinize Contracts" is a committee with three members: Deputy Secretary of the Knesset, the Comptroller of the Knesset and the Legal Advisor of the Knesset;
- The rental contract is signed between the Member of Knesset and the renter.
- The Member of Knesset will give the Knesset Comptroller a copy of the contract before he occupies the rented space, accompanied by a declaration that the rented space has none of the limitations cited in sub-paragraph (d), in accordance with the form in the fifth appendix.
- If the Committee to Scrutinize Contracts approved the rental contract not later than January 31, the Member of Knesset is entitled to the budget cited in 27 (b) for that same year; if the rental contract is approved after January 31 the Member of Knesset will be entitled to the relative portion of the said budget in accordance with the length of time remaining from the date of the approval of the contract until the end of the fiscal year.
- The Committee to Scrutinize Contracts will not approve a rental contract -
- if the space is not legally zoned for use as an office;
- if the office services are provided by a relative of the Member of Knesset or by a partner or employee of said relative; in this case "relative" refers to spouse, child, parent, sibling, uncle, cousin or the spouse of any of these;
- if the office was provided to the Member of Knesset by his party;
- if the office was provided to the Member of Knesset by a public body in which he serves as an elected official;
- if the rent demanded by the renter is unreasonable;
- if conducting the affairs of the parliamentary bureau in that office arouses fears of a conflict of interest or the receiving of a benefit on the part of the Member of Knesset.
- If the Member of Knesset occupies the rented space before the rental contract is approved by the Committee to Scrutinize Contracts he will not receive compensation for the period prior to the approval of the contract, unless the House Committee does approve this compensation, partially or in full, for the said period. This will only be done in special cases and with arguments that explain the decision in detail.
32. Purchasing Furniture and Supplies for the Parliamentary Bureau
- The Member of Knesset will purchase furniture and supplies from this budget only from registered businesses permitted by law to charge VAT, approved by the Knesset Comptroller and in accordance with the accepted procedures.
- Furniture and supplies purchased according to sub-paragraph (a) will be recorded as being the property of the Knesset.
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- A Member of Knesset who ceases to serve or a Member of Knesset who has given notification that he has closed his parliamentary bureau is entitled to transfer the furniture and supplies that he has purchased, under the conditions of this paragraph, to another Member of Knesset or to contribute them to an organization decided upon by the Secretary of the Knesset according to the recommendations of a committee appointed for that purpose from amongst the Knesset employees.
- A Member of Knesset will proceed in the manner described in subsection (1) no later than the date he must vacate his parliamentary bureau in accordance with the terms of his rental contract.
- The Member of Knesset will provide the Knesset Comptroller with a detailed inventory provided by the person from whom the Member of Knesset purchased the furniture and supplies. The person and the Member of Knesset will sign the inventory.
- Notwithstanding sub-paragraph (c) the Member of Knesset is entitled to notify the Comptroller of the Knesset of his wish to purchase the said furniture and office equipment at their worth on the day of the notification. Income tax regulations will pertain in regards to the said purchase.
33. Limitations on Purchase
A Member of Knesset will not receive an office, equipment or furniture without compensation or for compensation that is unreasonably lower than the accepted compensation, unless he can demonstrate that this does not constitute the receiving of favors or a conflict of interests. This condition does not pertain to furniture or equipment moved between Members of Knesset according to Paragraph 32(c)(1).
34. Employment of Staff
- A Member of Knesset is entitled to utilize staff in his parliamentary bureau that are employed by manpower companies or to acquire office services from manpower subcontractors or from a self employed person providing that he does not employ a family member as defined in paragraph 31(d)(2).
- The total expenses for employing workers in the parliamentary bureau will not exceed 4,000 shekels a month gross.
35. Purchasing Gifts
- Subject to the directives in sub-paragraph (d) a Member of Knesset is entitled to purchase gifts from his annual budget; the purchase will be made from a registered business approved by the Knesset Comptroller for this case and according to standard procedure.
- The cost of any gift will not exceed 500 shekels
- If a Member of Knesset buys gifts over the course of a year that exceed the amount permitted by the tax authorities he will be obligated to pay income tax on the difference between the cost of the gifts and the amount authorized for gifts.
- A Member of Knesset is not entitled to buy gifts for family members, as defined in Paragraph 31(d)(2), out this annual budget. This includes a brother in law, a father in law, a son in law, a nephew or a grandchild.
36. A Member of Knesset Whose Party Has Provided Him with an Office
A Member of Knesset whose party has provided him with an office that also serves a parliamentary bureau is entitled to an annual budget according to paragraph 27(a) only. The Member of Knesset is not permitted to use this annual budget for expenses relating, directly or indirectly, to expenses incurred by the office his party has provided him with, but only for office services.
37. A Parliamentary Bureau Located in the MK's Home
A Member of Knesset who maintains a parliamentary bureau in his home is not entitled to a budget as cited in paragraph 27(b).
38. Accumulation of Budget
- A Member of Knesset who has not spent his entire annual budget up to the end of the fiscal year is entitled, every year, to reassign the remaining sum to the following year. This holds for his entire candidature in the same Knesset.
- An MK is not allowed to reassign accumulated monies from one Knesset to the following Knesset.
39. Making Payments
- A Member of Knesset will not pay an expense out of his annual budget unless authorized in advance by the Knesset Comptroller. If the MK makes the payment before it is authorized he will not be reimbursed for it.
- The Knesset Comptroller will not authorize a payment from the annual budget unless first presented with a tax invoice from the supplier. Tax invoice refers to an invoice for the purposes of VAT and must be signed by the MK also.
- When the Knesset Comptroller approves the expense detailed in the tax invoice the Comptroller will make payment directly to the supplier.
- The Comptroller is entitled not to authorize an expense that is not for purposes as detailed in paragraph 27(a) or is unreasonably high.
- The instructions in sub-paragraphs (a) through (b) do not pertain for any expense that does not exceed 1000 shekels.
- These instructions also do not pertain for the payment of city taxes, electricity, water, telephone, gas and the building committee.
40. Reporting
- The Knesset Comptroller will present the Member of Knesset a detailed report of his purchases and expenses within one month of the end of the fiscal year.
- The Member of Knesset will endorse the report or will make known his reservations to the report within 15 days of receiving it. If reservations are not made within 15 days the report will be considered accurate.
- These reports will be open to public scrutiny and will be displayed in the Knesset Library and on the Knesset Internet.

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