His exit from the Prime Minister’s Residence, which has become a symbol of everything that is evil, corrupt, distorted and deviant in the way the Netanyahu family members conduct themselves, is a symbolic move. Under different circumstances, and in other countries, how and when a country’s leader leaves the official residence might be a simple technical matter. Moving trucks arrive at 10 Downing Street in London on election night, and the British prime minister empties the residence and vacates the premises at first light in preparation for the next person who will lead the nation.
In the United States, the outgoing president leaves the White House on the day that the incoming president is sworn in and from then on, he can only pass the gates of the White House as a guest of the president. The same is true in France, at the beautiful Élysée Palace. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel once told me that there is an official residence reserved for the prime minister in a wing of the chancellor’s office in the center of the government offices district, near the Bundestag building and the other governmental institutions. Merkel, however, chose to remain living in her private residence with her husband, where there is one reserved parking spot for her car. During all the years that she’s held the position of chancellor of Germany, she’s been climbing up three flights of stairs to her private apartment.
In Israel, too, there is a tradition that the outgoing prime minister vacates the official residence immediately upon the induction of a new government to make room for the incoming leader.
I do not recall a single case in Israel’s history in which the evacuation and entrance of an elected official attracted so much public attention. Except, however, for the changeover from Netanyahu to Ehud Barak in 1999, in which Netanyahu continued living with his family at Balfour for an extra two months, until he was explicitly told that if he did not leave voluntarily, he would be removed against his will.
Now this issue has reappeared. Netanyahu and his spokespeople in the print and electronic media immediately spread the news that at the end of my term as prime minister, I continued living at Balfour for an extra few months until I agreed to vacate the house.
The truth is that four days after I completed my term as prime minister, and Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as the new prime minister, my wife and I moved to our private residence in Motza Illit, just outside Jerusalem, where we continued on with our happy life.
This issue would not have been discussed at all, and would not have been subjected to public debate had Balfour not come to symbolize everything that has gone wrong in our country during the many years that Netanyahu has been prime minister.
Maintenance costs at Balfour used to be much lower, and the number of support staff was minimal. This has changed greatly in recent years. During Netanyahu’s tenure, at least 130 employees have been engaged at the official residence. Every few days, a number of employees are fired, new ones are hired, and then those are fired, too. This cycle continues on with no end in sight. A few ex-employees have filed lawsuits against the first lady for engaging in ridiculous, violent, aggressive and oppressive actions against them.
The caretaker of the house was replaced a number of times, and two of them even brought suits against the Netanyahu family, which dragged on for many years. The protests were over the unreasonable way the prime minister, his wife and son treated the people who were employed at the country’s official residence, where the current elected official resides for the duration of their term.
FURNITURE AND household items that were government property and belonged to the official residence disappeared and were found in the Netanyahu family’s private residence in Caesarea. In addition, expensive purchases of items that were intended for the Balfour residence were also transported to the Netanyahus’ private home in Caesarea, of course at Israeli taxpayers’ expense.
The overall expense of maintaining the Prime Minister’s Residence increased to include two more private homes that belong to the Netanyahu family, even though there is no precedent for state funds being used to maintain a prime minister’s private residences.
In short, there has been a complete blending of private and public, of personal and official, of private business affairs carried out by a prime minister and property belonging to the government.
This absolute blurring of the distinction between a family’s private and official activities, between what is allowed by law and what isn’t, has become the hallmark of the Netanyahu administration.
As a result, the public has understandably developed a higher level of sensitivity to the question of when the Netanyahu family is planning to leave Balfour, which will in practice be the end of their life of privilege that was rightly given to them as the family of the prime minister but is not due to them when he is no longer in the role.
It was recently announced that Netanyahu has pledged to vacate the premises at Balfour by July 10, almost a month after he completed his tenure as prime minister.
I’ve heard from quite a few people that they would love to stand at the corner of Balfour and Smolenskin streets in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem to watch as the Netanyahu family vacates the premises. I personally think this is excessive and completely unnecessary. In my opinion, we must let the tormented family slip away quietly and respectfully as they move back into one of their private residences, where they can begin rebuilding their lives.
Leaving the official residence on Balfour Street has become a symbol of an end to Netanyahu’s tenure as prime minister, and a change in the direction of public discourse in Israel.
This is a happy end that took place under very disturbing circumstances, in an atmosphere of disgust and schadenfreude. Had Netanyahu acted wisely, if he had known how to respect his political rivals, his departure would have been treated more respectfully by the people who worked to have him replaced.
If Netanyahu had even a miniscule amount of wisdom or restraint; had he and his family not been full of greed and uncontrollable lust for everything they could get their hands on, including public property, there would not have been outbursts of anger, hostility and rejoicing at his failures as the Netanyahu family prepares for departure.
I cannot assess at this point in time whether this is the end of an era and the beginning of a new age that will inspire hope in our country. I believe this will be the end of Netanyahu’s public service. It’s too early to know anything else.
Bennett, Yair Lapid and their friends’ wisdom and sense of responsibility and dedication will determine which way Israel marches in the upcoming years, and from the bottom of my heart I wish them great success.
Now that a younger generation is taking over the reins of power in Israel’s national government, I’ve decided that this is also the right time for me to take a break from my weekly connection with Jerusalem Post readers. The new government deserves the opportunity to prove itself worthy, and I believe that it will succeed in this endeavor.