1.43 million shekels paid by Israel... for hair styling and makeup of its prime ministers since 2019
Official Israeli data revealed that approximately 1.43 million shekels were spent from the beginning of 2019 through last August on cosmetics and hair styling for prime ministers, both while they were in Israel and abroad.
According to those data, published following a request by the Freedom of Information Movement, as reported by the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, Benjamin Netanyahu, who held the office of prime minister for most of that period, along with his wife Sarah, accounted for 90% of the expenses.
According to the data, between September and November 2023, 7,897 shekels were paid for Netanyahu’s hair styling and 4,800 shekels for makeup.
Total expenses in 2023 reached approximately 312,000 shekels, compared to about 84,000 shekels in 2022, when Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid served as prime ministers on a rotating basis.
In 2025, the highest annual expenditure was recorded during the studied period, reaching approximately 337,000 shekels.
The most expensive trip in this category was the visit to Washington in February 2025, where nearly $13,500 was paid for a makeup artist and hair stylist. Another visit to Washington in July 2024 involved expenses of approximately $11,500.
The data showed that approximately 7,828,000 people, Jews and others, constitute 78.3% of the total Israeli population, while the Arab population numbered approximately 2,173,000, or 21.7% (this figure includes residents of East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights). Approximately 304,000 foreigners reside in the country.
Since last Rosh Hashanah, the population has increased by approximately 124,000 people, registering a growth rate of 1.2%. During the past year, approximately 182,000 children were born in Israel, while about 50,000 people died.
Conversely, the international migration balance recorded a deficit during the past year, leading to a population decline of approximately 8,000 people. According to the data, approximately 24,000 new immigrants arrived in the country, along with about 4,000 people who came under family reunification programs. Additionally, approximately 21,000 Israelis who had emigrated abroad returned to Israel, while about 57,000 Israelis left the country, contributing to a negative international migration balance.
The data also addressed the religious composition of the Jewish population aged 20 and above, based on their self-identification regarding their level of religiosity. It was found that secular Jews constitute the largest group, accounting for 39.6% of this demographic.
Approximately 21.8% identified themselves as traditional, while 14% identified as traditional-religious, 12.4% as religious, and 11.5% as Haredi.
Globally, the Central Bureau of Statistics estimated the world’s Jewish population at approximately 15,900,000 people, based on data accurate as of January 1, 2026. Approximately 46% of them live in Israel.
