Approximately NIS 127 million has been spent on security projects at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s residences since 2023, according to figures disclosed following a court petition. A legal battle is now underway over whether the government must reveal how much was spent at each property.

The figures show spending rose from NIS 10.9 million in 2023 to NIS 27.8 million in 2024, before reaching NIS 72.5 million in 2025. Another NIS 16.2 million was spent from the beginning of 2026 through October.

The Prime Minister’s Office attributed the increased spending to heightened security threats and the need to strengthen protective measures, including following the 2024 drone strike on Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea.

The Givat Mordechai community association, which filed the petition, is seeking separate spending figures for the official residence in Jerusalem, the alternate residence on Gaza Street, and the private Caesarea home.

The Prime Minister’s Office opposes releasing that breakdown, arguing that hostile actors could use the information to identify differences in security protection between the properties.

During a court hearing, Alon Haliva, the office’s deputy director-general for security, warned that combining expenditure figures with information from other sources could allow adversaries to draw sensitive conclusions about the residences’ defenses.

Association chairman Kobi Eisen rejected that argument, saying the public is entitled to know how its money was spent.

The dispute has also renewed attention to Netanyahu’s past criticism of security-related spending at former prime minister Naftali Bennett’s private home in Ra’anana. Netanyahu previously accused Bennett of renovating his home at a cost of NIS 50 million to taxpayers.

Judge Arnon Dראל ordered the Prime Minister’s Office to provide additional information, including a breakdown between private and public residences by period or administration.

The next hearing is scheduled for Sunday, when the court is expected to consider whether the more detailed figures must be disclosed.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)