Beit Aghion
Beit Aghion (Hebrew: בית אגיון, Aghion House), also known as Beit Rosh HaMemshala (Hebrew: בית ראש הממשלה, lit. House of the Head of Government) or metonymously as Balfour[1][2] is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Israel. It is located at 9 Smolenskin Street, on the corner of Balfour Street in the upscale central Jerusalem neighborhood of Rehavia.
History
The house was built between 1936 and 1938 for Greek-Jewish merchant Edward Aghion, an affluent resident of Alexandria in Egypt. It was designed by German architect Richard Kauffmann.[3]
In 1941, Peter II, King of Yugoslavia resided in the house. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it served as a hospital for the Irgun fighters.
In 1952, the Israeli government purchased the house for the purpose of turning it to an official residence for the Foreign Minister. In 1974, the Israeli Government decided to transfer the official residence of the Prime Minister from Julius Jacobs House (com), which had served as the official residence of the Israeli Prime Minister between 1950 and 1974, to Beit Aghion. During the 1990s, a wall was erected around the house for security reasons and a segment of Balfour Street was closed to traffic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resided in Beit Aghion until July 2021, more than a month after he was ousted from office by a coalition headed by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. Since then, renovations have been underway at Beit Aghion. During their terms as Prime Minister, Bennett remained in his family residence in Ra’anana and Lapid largely lived in Tel Aviv during his tenure as prime minister.[4]
Architecture
The building is composed of several square blocks connected to one another and in the center of the building there is a stairway, decorated with a row of windows in the front. The front of the building also includes a section molded in a circular way, and in a boat-like fashion typical of the International Style. The house is coated with Jerusalem stone. The premises include an inner courtyard (patio)—an element that differs from the common International Style, but is common among Islamic-style buildings. The patio was most probably added by request from the Aghion family.
Proposed residence relocation
On 8 February 2009, the Israeli government approved the Almog Project, which provides that the official residence of the Prime Minister be united with his office within the government complex, and out of Beit Aghion. The cost of that planned project was around 650 million shekels ($162 million USD), and thus was criticized as overly extravagant. On 5 April, the decision to move the official residence of the Prime Minister of Israel was canceled.[5]
In 2014, t
to provide the Prime Minister and the leadership centers with security protection and
functional infrastructure to ensure their survival and continuity of operations in times of
routine and emergency. The project was planned to be built on the area included in the
Government Campus in Jerusalem. Tender procedures for its planning began two decades
earlier, in 1995; the planning commenced in 2000, but its advancement was halted. In May
2014, the Israeli government decided to restart the project; however, in October 2018, its
advancement was halted. In 2019, the Prime Minister's Office began developing an alternative
plan, in another location on the Government Campus in Jerusalem, adjacent to the current
Prime Minister's Office building − the "Shira" project.plans to relocate the official residence to be close to the prime minister's office were approved by ministers.[6]
After repeated delays, on June 30, 2024, Netanyahu's government approved NIS 37.5 million to build the new compound.[7]
See also
References
- ^ Kershner, Isabel (14 June 2021). "For Israel's Netanyahu, the Official Residence Became a Fortress". New York Times. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ Cashman, Greer. "Balfour, the prime minister's residence, as a symbol". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ "Homes fit for a prime minister: From Ben Gurion's shack to Netanyahu's compound". Haaretz.
- ^ "Cabinet okays advancement of new plans to build combined office/residence for PM". Times of Israel. July 1, 2024.
- ^ Cabinet decision #12, April 5, 2009, Benjamin Netanyahu 32 Government
- ^ "Plane and new residence for PM okayed by ministers". Times of Israel. 4 May 2014. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
- ^ "Cabinet okays advancement of new plans to build combined office/residence for PM". Times of Israel. July 1, 2024.
