Netanyahu family vacates Balfour after 12 years

Starting Sunday, the residence will be used by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. However, the newly-elected prime minister's family is not expected to move in.

A fake moving truck titled "Crime Minister Movers" on Balfour comes to "Take Bibi home" (photo credit: Courtesy)
A fake moving truck titled "Crime Minister Movers" on Balfour comes to "Take Bibi home"
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his family left the Balfour residence late Saturday night after 12 years. 

According to sources acquainted with the family, they will relocate to Caesarea and will occasionally spend time in their Jerusalem apartment. 

The family's departure from Balfour has reportedly been ongoing for the past few days. Multiple cars were reported leaving the Balfour complex during the past few days that belonged to Netanyahu's official convoy.

Three weeks ago, Netanyahu was criticized for remaining in Balfour and holding meetings there more than a month after the inauguration of the Bennett-Lapid government. Netanyahu eventually agreed that he and his family would leave the complex by July 10, and that no official meetings would be held there until that date. 
Starting on Sunday, the residence will be used by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. However, the newly-elected Prime Minister's family is not expected to move in, but will rather continue living in Ra'anana so that his children can continue learning in their current schools.
Anti-Netanyahu protest organization "Crime Minister" activists demonstrated on Saturday in front of the former prime minister's official residence on Balfour Street, stating that "after 12 years of corruption and incitement, Israeli citizens deserve to see the accused and his family evacuated."
After it became clear that the Netanyahu family had left. Crime Minister released a statement saying that "the accused and his family ran like thieves in the night."
"The person who marketed himself as a strong leader for years will be forever remembered as the person who ran like a bunny, lacking all respectability, and who spared no trick or shtick to avoid any documentation of his leaving," said the organization.
The Balfour residence has been used as the official residence of Israeli prime ministers since 1974. However, it has become a symbol of Netanyahu in recent years, partly because of the ongoing protests held there on a weekly basis over the past year and partly because of the various scandals surrounding the expenses of the Netanyahu family and the working conditions at the residence.