Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has conveyed a message to opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu that he must vacate the official Prime Minister's Residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem within two weeks, Channel 12 News reported on Friday evening.
Earlier it was reported that Netanyahu and his family have just “begun to pack” in the last few days and will likely remain in the Prime Minister’s Residence for at least “several more weeks”.
Once the Netanyahu family does finally move, they are expected to live temporarily at their private residence in the coastal city of Caesarea, until security upgrades are completed to their property on Gaza Street in Jerusalem. The work on the Gaza Street property is expected to take several months.
The legal adviser of the Office of the Prime Minister has refrained at this stage from issuing an instruction or directive for the length of time that may elapse until Netanyahu departs the official Prime Minister’s Residence.
Channel 12 News further reported on Friday that MK Vladimir Beliak from Yesh Atid will next week table an amendment to the Basic Law: The Government under which an outgoing Prime Minister will vacate the official residence within two weeks of the swearing-in of the new government.
"Next week I will table before the Knesset an amendment to the Basic Law: The Government, which stipulates that upon swearing in the government, the outgoing Prime Minister will vacate the official residence as soon as possible and no later than 14 days from the swearing in of the new government," said MK Beliak. "The amendment will not apply to the current outgoing Prime Minister, but will set a norm that will prevent future abuse of the loophole in the existing law."
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)