Netanyahus Vacate Prime Minister’s Residence After 12-Year Tenancy

Late Saturday night, former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his family vacated Beit Aghion, the official Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. Long before the late-night convoy of moving vans removed the last of the Netanyahus’ possessions, scores of demonstrators were chanting anti-Netanyahu themes in the streets surrounding the house. About mid-afternoon the chants began. Although the assemblage was far smaller than those held every Saturday night for the past year, those who participated on Saturday night seemed unsatisfied with the longest office-holder in Israeli prime ministerial history losing his seat and leaving the neighborhood; they want to see him in jail. The new prime minister is in no rush to move into the official residence at 9 Smolenskin Street. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett rejected the idea of moving at all but has since been convinced to spend midweek there while his family remains in the Tel Aviv suburb of Raanana.