Adelson set to buy US ambassador's residence in Tel Aviv
Washington is reportedly rushing the sale of the abandoned US ambassador's residence in Tel Aviv to US billionaire Sheldon Adelson, adding another layer of solidity to the embassy's transfer to Jerusalem before the November election.
In just about every election season for decades, US presidential candidates have promised to move the embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. President Donald Trump actually did it in May 2018. With the embassy came the ambassador. Even before his appointment, Ambassador David Friedman had an apartment in Jerusalem’s well-to-do Talbieh neighborhood and usually spent his holidays there. With the relocation of the embassy, it became his official residence.
The move left the ambassador's previous residence in the seaside town of Herzliya Pituach suddenly empty. The house, which is thought to be the most expensive home in Israel, was put on the market with a price tag of 300 million shekels ($100 million).
Tal Schneider and Shai Shalev of the financial newspaper Globes report that the main candidate to purchase the property is Sheldon Adelson. The American Jewish billionaire is very involved in Israeli politics and is a particularly avid supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Back in the United States, he is also a top donor to President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
The report claims that Adelson offered the full price of 300 million shekels for the property, which would be the highest price ever paid for any residential property in Israel. Negotiations moved quickly to get the deal signed, not least so that it will be completed before the upcoming US election. The report also says that the current US administration considers it important for the sale to be completed before November to underscore the idea that the relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem is a done deal that cannot be walked back. If Joe Biden is elected, he will likely try to undo at least some of Trump’s foreign policy decisions. One thing he won’t be able to revert is the decision to move the embassy.
