A group the led protests against former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that it would pursue legal action unless the Netanyahu family vacates the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem by the end of the month, Channel 12 News reported.
The Crime Minister group, which led the anti-Netanyahu protests over the past year, sent a letter to the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday threatening to petition the High Court of Justice if the Likud leader does not leave the official residence by June 27.
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The letter to PMO legal adviser Shlomit Barnea demands that his office set a departure date, no later than two weeks.
"We will not allow a [criminal] defendant who lost the election to fortify himself in the residence, turning it into a facility for his private affairs from which he prepares to overthrow the elected government," reads the letter.
Critics online were concerned to note that Netanyahu hosted former US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley at the official residence and that her tweet about the meeting referred to him as "prime minister" despite the fact he no longer holds the office.
It was unclear if Haley addressed Netanyahu as such deliberately, or as a sign of respect to a former holder of the position, as is the case in the US where former presidents are referred to as "president."
"It is time, after 12 years of alienation for the Netanyahu family to understand that the Prime Minister's residence is a public good and to vacate the premises in a short period of time, as is the case in any democracy," the Crime Minister group wrote.
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The letter says it took six weeks for the Netanyahu family to leave the official residence when the Likud leader was ousted in 1999.
Channel 12 News reported on Monday that the Netanyahu family are expected to stay at Balfour's residence for at least several weeks, if not an additional month.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.



