Beliak Calls for Accountability Over Netanyahu Residence Spending

Former MK Vladimir Beliak called on Saturday, November 14, for accountability over spending on residences used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family. Responding to an investigation published the previous evening, the former Finance Committee member criticized the prolonged renovation of the official residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem and alleged waste of hundreds of millions of shekels. Beliak said that after a change of government, officials who should have acted as institutional safeguards but failed in their responsibilities would have to bear responsibility. “That day is near,” he wrote. The investigation described renovation work continuing five years after it began, without a reported completion date. In a January 12, 2026 response to a freedom-of-information request, the Prime Minister’s Office recorded an approved ceiling of NIS 103,098,118 for renovation and protection work at the official residence. The letter said work remained incomplete and the final actual cost could be lower after offsets and final calculations with contractors. It withheld itemized project documentation on security grounds. Responding to the investigation, the Prime Minister’s Office said the Defense Ministry manages and executes the Balfour project and denied Netanyahu’s involvement. It denied that delays were intended to allow work on other residences, attributing them to the coronavirus period, the war, changing security assessments and strict building-preservation requirements. It said cost approvals undergo institutional oversight involving legal advisers and security representatives, without Netanyahu’s intervention.