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Israelis are now debating the role the Balfour protests may have played in ousting Mr. Netanyahu, who spent 12 consecutive years in office, and 15 overall, and in breaking the political deadlock that has sent Israelis to the polls four times in two years.
Now, the opposition leader, Mr. Netanyahu, has skipped the traditional handover ceremony, meeting Mr. Bennett alone for half an hour on Monday. He has vowed to bring down Mr. Bennett’s government, which he has described as “leftist”.
The Prime Minister’s Office was not immediately able to determine when Netanyahu might leave Balfour. A person close to the family, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private matters, said the issue was not brought up for discussion but noted that some former prime ministers had been given a grace period of up to two months before the residency was vacated.
Named after Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary whose proclamation over a century ago laid the diplomatic foundations for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, Balfour Street became an example of what critics saw as Mr. Balfour’s increasingly polarizing, anti-democratic, and anti-monarchical motives. Netanyahu, his wife Sarah, and their eldest son, Yair. Many considered them to have royal illusions. In fighting corruption charges, Mr. Netanyahu has criticized the police, the mainstream media and the judiciary, accusing them of plotting to oust him.
The term “Balfour” also came to denote a political concept defined by Ben Caspit, an Israeli commentator and Netanyahu biographer. Caspit said, in the prime minister’s circles, people started talking about policies or decisions that would or might not win “house” approval, which initially meant Ms. Netanyahu, and in recent years, they also referred to Yair Netanyahu.
“It was a three-member board, and Bibi did not have a majority,” Mr. Caspit said in an interview.
The person close to the Netanyahu family said that while Ms. Netanyahu and Yair Netanyahu expressed their views, he had never seen any unusual interference in decision-making to justify the reputation they had earned.
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