Netanyahu’s son set to lose money on UK property

Benjamin Netanyahu’s youngest son is set to make a financial loss on his three-bedroom property in Oxford, Declassified can reveal.

He used his parents’ money to buy the leasehold in 2022. But after moving back to Israel, he has been struggling to sell the apartment for months – and has reduced the asking price by almost 20%.

Avner Netanyahu bought the property after changing his surname to Segal – his grandmother’s maiden name – and is thought to have lived there while doing a master’s degree.

Reports say that the £502,500 purchase price narrowly avoided the threshold set by the Israeli Tax Authority to report overseas property.

Segal told reporters in Israel that the money had come from his parents, adding: “And I don’t apologize for that.”

He put the apartment back on the market just 16 months later, in February this year, for £620,000.

But despite its location in a private, gated complex in an affluent Oxford neighborhood, Segal has struggled to sell the property. The asking price has been reduced to £500,000, which would equate to a £2,500 loss.

Details of the property purchase were analysed by Declassified in collaboration with Israeli newspaper Calcalist.

Declassified is not publishing the full address, or photos of the property’s exterior, to protect the privacy of other residents – although both are already in the public domain. It is not clear whether anyone currently lives in the apartment.

Segal reportedly returned to Israel before his second academic year, which started shortly after 7 October, 2023. A source in Oxford told Declassified: “I never saw him after that.”

Censorship

The property purchase was first revealed by Calcalist in July this year.

But within two hours of publication, the country’s military censor ordered editors to remove the article from the internet.

The move sparked widespread criticism, as such orders are typically only used for content deemed to be a national security threat to Israel.

The Union of Journalists in Israel described it as “a serious blow to journalists’ trust in the decisions of the censor’s staff”.

Eventually, the article was reinstated online after negotiations, but key details such as the exact date of the sale were reportedly removed.

Explaining his change of name, Segal told Calcalist: “I didn’t have security at the time, and I knew that if I walked around with that name (Netanyahu) in another country with Muslims, I’d get stabbed by the first person who heard it at a train station.

“All my conduct was legal, both here and there.”

Spare cash

The children of high-profile politicians normally face extra checks when buying property in the UK, to prevent money-laundering.

Declassified has seen a letter from the legal firm used by Segal which confirms that his status as a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) was “taken into account with our due diligence”.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) explained: “If a client is a PEP, or a family member or known close associate of a PEP, this does not mean firms are prohibited from dealing with them.

“It does mean, that where a client is considered high risk, due to its PEP status, the firm needs to apply additional checks to the client who will automatically be subject to enhanced due diligence. This would include the client’s source of funds and source of wealth.”

The SRA added: “Firms conduct their own due diligence checks. If they are able to satisfy themselves that the transaction and client are legitimate, they are free to act. They must apply enhanced ongoing monitoring of the matter if the client is high risk.”

The Israeli prime minister currently faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust in a long-running corruption trial. He has pleaded not guilty.

Israeli lawyer Shachar Ben-Meir, a leading voice on the corruption trial, said it was “obvious” that the family would have had more disposable income thanks in part to the many freebies from the state to which the family have been entitled.

In particular, Ben-Meir noted the state paid expenses for Netanyahu’s private home in the affluent coastal town of Caesarea, which is separate to issues raised in the corruption trial.

“They pay almost everything. They paid for water in his private pool. Almost everything,” Ben-Meir said.

However, he added, the war in Gaza has changed his perspective, reflecting that the alleged corruption “has become something small compared to the war crimes and crimes against humanity that were made by the Netanyahu regime, as an Israeli, in my name”.

The Israeli prime minister’s office was approached for comment.