The Movement for Quality Government in Israel announced on Wednesday that the luxury Manhattan apartment that serves as the residence of Jerusalem’s United Nations ambassador is now registered officially to the Israeli U.N. mission rather than in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s name, as it has been for decades.
The apartment on Fifth Avenue, which Israel bought for some $99,000 in 1986 and is estimated to be worth about $15 million today, was registered to Netanyahu, then amid his tenure in Turtle Bay, which ended the following year.
Following a media probe, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in 2018 that Netanyahu’s name appeared on the ownership documents “due to the ownership structure” of the apartment.
The structure was similar to another Manhattan residence, which Israel purchased for its New York consulate and which was registered in the name of the consul general who first lived there, per the Israeli ministry.
The ministry stated that legal proceedings began in late 2016 to resolve the question of registration. It wasn’t clear why it took almost nine years to resolve.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel said it petitioned the Jerusalem District Court earlier this month under a freedom of information act request and was notified several days later by the Foreign Affairs Ministry about the registration change.
