The son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended himself in response to revelations that he bought an apartment in the UK under a different name in 2022, during a brief period that enabled the avoidance of reporting the purchase to the Israeli tax authority.
Avner Netanyahu is understood to have been studying for a master’s degree at Regents Park College, Oxford at the time.
Israeli financial newspaper Calcalist revealed that in October 2022, Netanyahu purchased a property in the heart of Oxford, approximately a ten-minute walk from the college, for £502,500. The money was paid up front, meaning that there was no mortgage, with Netanyahu making clear that the sum had come from his parents. The purchase was made in the name of Avi Avner Segal, rather than Avner Netanyahu.
In a response to the Israeli paper, the Israeli Prime Minister’s son made it clear that the name change had been above board and fully registered with the Israeli authorities.
“I changed my name on my ID card at the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, and then I also changed my passport and driver’s license, among other things. It’s a package deal, you can’t change it here or there, it doesn’t work like that”, he said.
Benjamin Netanyahu was leader of the Opposition, rather than the Prime Minister, at the time of the purchase. In 2022, the Shin Bet rejected a request from Benjamin Netanyahu for security to be provided for his son while he studied abroad. Avner Netanyahu cited this as the primary reason for his name change.
“I didn’t have security at the time, and I knew that if I walked around with that name, in another country with Muslims, I would get stabbed by the first person who heard it at a train station”, he told Calcalist.
“All of my conduct was legal, both here and there.”
Under Israeli tax authority rules, citizens need to report any foreign property purchase worth more than 2 million shekels. However, from late September to early October 2022, there was a significant financial downturn in the UK, as markets responded negatively to a proposed mini-budget set out by Liz Truss. This meant that for a very short period, the pound-shekel exchange rate dipped to £1 equalling 3.93 Shekel – meaning that Netanyahu’s apartment purchase was slightly below the 2 million shekel which would have required him to report the purchase. As Calcalist pointed out, “if the apartment had been purchased 10 days before or after the date it was purchased, it would have been worth more than 2 million shekels.”
Speaking to the Israeli paper, Netanyahu Jr. said: “We reported everything that was necessary to the tax authorities in Israel and Britain…I conduct myself with all the authorities as necessary. I will do whatever I am asked to do.”
Avner Netanyahu is believed to have still been studying in the UK when the 7 October attacks happened in Israel. Once his Masters was finished, he returned to Israel to work. Last month, while visiting Soroka hospital in the wake of an Iranian missile strike, Benjamin Netanyahu told those present that the whole country had made sacrifices, citing the delay of Avner’s wedding.
