Netanyahus stay at pricey Waldorf Astoria while their apartment is renovated

The Netanyahu family has temporarily moved into an upscale hotel in Jerusalem while security renovations are being carried out on their private home — where they have been staying while the official Prime Minister’s Residence is being upgraded.

According to reports in the Haaretz daily and on Channel 12 news, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are currently at the pricey Waldorf Astoria Hotel, a short distance away from the official residential compound on Balfour Street.

On Monday morning, a Times of Israel reporter witnessed construction workers ripping up the sidewalk outside the Netanyahus’ home on Azza (Gaza) Street in the capital — also just a few minutes from Balfour Street — where the couple have been mostly living since Netanyahu became prime minister again at the end of last year.

Channel 12 reported that the presence of the Netanyahus in the hotel would require them to occupy more than an entire floor, to accommodate security and his staff, and that they are expected to stay there for a week.

The hotel is likely to be at high occupancy during the month of August, which is peak tourist season in Israel. According to the website of the hotel — which opened in 2014 — a weeklong stay in the “ambassador suite” would cost NIS 91,392 ($24,179).

The Prime Minister’s Office told Haaretz in a statement that “on the instruction of security officials in light of the increase in threats against Prime Minister Netanyahu, there are security measures being taken near his apartment in Jerusalem that requires him to stay for a number of days outside the apartment.”

Visiting foreign leaders tend to stay in the nearby King David Hotel, a swanky but much older establishment, which has strict security measures in place for such visits.

Earlier this year, Netanyahu asked the Knesset Finance Committee to recognize the family’s home on Azza Street as the premier’s official residence while the renovations and security upgrades at Balfour Street continue. The work is expected to take at least two more years, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.

The committee voted to approve his request to allocate state funding to cover housing costs at two private residences of the Netanyahu family and increase funds for expenses such as clothing, travel abroad for the premier’s wife Sara, conferences and other state events, staff hiring, and hospitality costs.

The approval pertains both to the Netanyahus’ apartment on Azza Street and the family home in the affluent coastal town of Caesarea.

During the debate on the issue in February, Prime Minister’s Office Director General Yossi Sheli argued that the state was required to provide the prime minister with an official residence and that the Netanyahus’ decision to reside at the home on Azza Street would cost the state just as much as any other alternative residence designated as official.

Sheli said at the time that the request asks for the state to fund expenses at both residences through 2026 amid “the working assumption that by then there will be a new residence [at Balfour Street], and we will return to the normal procedure.”

Channel 12 reported on Monday that one of the reasons for the renovations at the Azza Street home is that the Balfour Street renovations are taking longer than expected, and therefore the residence at the Azza apartment is no longer viewed as just temporary.

The Balfour residence has been undergoing long-overdue renovations and security updates since Netanyahu moved out in July 2021 after leaving office.

Due to the ongoing work at the official residence,  former prime minister Naftali Bennett spent most of his time in office living at his Ra’anana home — to the consternation of his neighbors there — while former prime minister Yair Lapid stayed in a small apartment within the prime ministerial compound.

Earlier this year, Haaretz reported that the Prime Minister’s Office estimated the ongoing renovations at the Balfour residence will cost between NIS 80 and 100 million ($25-30 million) and may take years more to complete.