The Supreme Court case against the renovation of prime minister Naftali Bennett's Ra'anana house has revealed that the renovations were conducted unlawfully and without proper permits, with requests for permits being filed only afterwards.
During questioning in court Monday, an attorney representing the State, as well as Prime Minister Bennett, admitted that no permits had been issued for the renovation of Bennett's private Ra'anana residence.
"The Attorney General, the Prime Minister's Office, the Prime Minister himself, and the police are the respondents in this case," said Hur Uriel Naziri, an attorney representing neighbors of Prime Minister Bennett who challenged the renovation work.
"Today, in response to questions from the judges whether there is a building permit, the state's counsel said that there isn't. They asked her how on earth that could be, and she said that she doesn't know. Basically, the state's counsel admitted, on behalf of all the aforementioned respondents, that an official state residence is being built in Israel against the law, even before we asked who is empowered to build or if the renovation is up to code."
The Ra'anana residence has been the subject of considerable scrutiny in the last few days, after an exposé by Channel 13 accused the Prime Minister's family of ordering exorbitant sums of takeout food.
The Prime Minister's Office later released a defense of the family's expenditures, insisting that they Bennett family was living entirely within the budget allotted for them by regulations.
A statement by the Likud party accuses the Prime Minister of deliberately delaying his move to the official residence at Balfour square in the hopes of renovating his house at the public's expense. The party also replied to accusations about former Prime Minister Netanyahu's lifestyle, saying that the Netanyahu family had spent only a tenth of what the Bennett family was paying for takeout.
"Bennett should open his home to the public to let them see the new basement, carpentry, and redecorating that has been done with public money - something the Netanyahu family never did," the Likud accused.
Yamina party coordinator Stella Weinstein defended the Prime Minister, saying "There is a tradition in Israel to scrutinize the family of the Prime minister, which I have never approved of. The Prime Minister's family takes on a complex and heavy burden, and does so with great dignity. Bennett's continued residence in Ra'anana is exclusively a security matter, and the ISA has explained over and over again that moving to Balfour square is impossible right now. The only option is the renovation of the current residence."