Beit Aghion

Beit Julius Jacobs, the PM's residence until 1974

The black curtain on Balfour street in Jerusalem, which hides the entrance to the prime minister's residence

Beit Aghion (Hebrew: בית אגיון), known in English as Aghion House and in Hebrew also as Beit Rosh HaMemshala (בית ראש הממשלה‎, lit. House of the Head of Government) is the official residence of the Prime Minister of Israel. It is located at 9 Smolenskin Street, on the street corner of Balfour Street in the upscale Jerusalem neighborhood of Rehavia, situated between the city center and the Talbiya neighborhood.

History[]

1938

The house was built for the Jewish–Greek merchant who was an affluent resident of Alexandria, Egypt. It was designed by the Jewish-German architect Richard Kauffmann and was built between 1936–1938.^[1]

In 1941, Peter II, King of Yugoslavia resided in the house. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it served as a hospital for the Irgun fighters.

In 1952, the Israeli government purchased the house for the purpose of turning it to an official residence for the Foreign Minister. In 1974, the Israeli Government decided to transfer the official residence of the Prime Minister from (com), which had served as the official residence of the Israeli Prime Minister between 1950–1974, to Beit Aghion. During the 1990s, a wall was erected around the house for security reasons and a segment of Balfour Street was closed to traffic.

Architecture[]

The building is composed of several square blocks connected to one another and in the center of the building there is a stairway, decorated with a row of windows in the front. The front of the building also includes a section molded in a circular way, and in a boat-like fashion typical of the International Style. The house is coated with Jerusalem stone. The premises include an inner courtyard (patio)—an element that differs from the common International Style, but is common among Islamic-style buildings. The patio was most probably added by request from the Aghion family.

Proposed residence relocation[]

On 8 February 2009, the Israeli government approved the Almog Project, which provides that the official residence of the Prime Minister be united with his office within the government complex, and out of Beit Aghion. The cost of that planned project was around 650 million shekels, and thus was criticized as overly extravagant. On 5 April, the decision to move the official residence of the Prime Minister of Israel was canceled.^[2]

In 2014, the plans to relocate the official residence to be close to the prime minister's office were approved by ministers.^[3]