Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had an off-shore bank account in Jersey, a tax haven, in the years 1999-2003, Lilach Weissman of Globes reported Wednesday.
In the years following Netanyahu's first term as prime minister, while he was paid for giving lectures around the world, he held an account in the Royal Bank of Scotland in Jersey.
Off-shore bank accounts are legal, as long as they are reported to the tax authorities.
However, by opening an account in a tax haven, Netanyahu avoided his own tax reform, enacted while he was Finance Minister. The account was also used while Netanyahu was Foreign Minister.
The Global Financial Centers Index ranked Jersey as the top tax haven in the world in 2010.
Netanyahu paid his lawyers, media advisors and bureau chief from the account while he was on a break from politics.
The prime minister also moved funds from Jersey to another account managed by Lehman Brothers in 2002, according to documents Weissman obtained, which are signed by Netanyahu.
Last year, Forbes Israel ranked Netanyahu the sixth-wealthiest politician in Israel, with a net worth of NIS 41 million. The magazine reported that Netanyahu earned most of his money in the years 1999-2001, including 15 million from giving lectures. He bought his home in Caesaria in 2002.
The Prime Minister's Office responded to Globes that its "attempt to discredit Prime Minister Netanyahu do not match the facts."
"The account is not active since 2003. In 1999, after he finished his first term as prime minister, Netanyahu made an investment that did not give him any advantage over the taxes in Israel. The accounts and deposits were reported in full to the authorities in Israel, including the Israeli tax authorities, and was included in his declaration of wealth," the PMO added.
In 1977, then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin resigned because he had an bank account in the US. At the time, it was illegal to have a bank account abroad.