The apartment of the Israeli ambassador to the UN was registered in Netanyahu’s name since he served as ambassador in 1987
The Foreign Ministry recently updated that ownership of the Israeli ambassador to the UN’s apartment in New York has been transferred to the name of the Permanent Mission to the UN, and is no longer registered in Netanyahu’s name.
To recall, the Israeli ambassador to the UN’s apartment was registered under Benjamin Netanyahu’s name since the late 1980s, when he served as Israel’s ambassador to the UN in 1987. Despite the fact that he ended his term nearly forty years ago, the State of Israel did not transfer ownership of the apartment, and it remained registered under Netanyahu’s name.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel contacted the foreign ministry many times in recent years demanding that it deal with the ownership of the apartment, and in early May, the Movement even petitioned the Jerusalem District Court to the lack of response to the Movement’s freedom of information request on the subject. Several days after the Movement’s request, the foreign ministry updated that the matter had been settled, ownership of the apartment had been transferred, and it was no longer registered under Netanyahu’s name.
Adv. Tamar Baum, head of the municipal department at the Movement for Quality Government in Israel: “The transfer of ownership of the ambassador’s apartment in New York is a welcome ending to a long-standing saga, in which a property belonging to the State of Israel was registered in the name of a private individual without any satisfactory explanation.
The State of Israel dragged its feet in handling its assets in a most puzzling manner. It is impossible to accept a situation in which the state’s resources are registered in the name of a private individual, no matter how important, and the state does almost nothing to return them to its ownership.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel works hard to ensure that the state’s resources and assets are managed in a transparent manner, ensuring that the interests of all its citizens are protected, and will continue to do so in the future.”
