The U.S. Embassy announced on Tuesday that the State Department has sold the U.S. Ambassador’s official residence in Herzliya as the final step of the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem.

“Planning for the sale of the former US Ambassador’s residence in Tel Aviv began in 2019 with marketing of the property beginning in January of 2020,” the statement said. “The Department of State has recently selected the buyer for the sale of the former Chief of Mission Residence in Herzliya Israel. The buyer was selected solely on the basis of having submitted the highest and best offer. The selected buyer and the unsuccessful bidders have been notified. The Embassy will vacate the Chief of Mission Residence in the spring of 2021.”

The statement did not name the buyer but according to Globes, the home was sold to philanthropist Sheldon Adelson for $88 million (NIS 300 million), the highest price ever paid for a house in Israel.

The 11,000-square-foot villa in Hertzliya Pituach, an affluent beachfront suburb of Tel Aviv, is located on what is considered Israel’s most expensive street, Galei Tchelet, home to several other ambassadors as well as Israeli billionaires.

According to another Globes report, Friedman will rent the home from Adelson until the spring. Although he owns an apartment in Jerusalem, it does not meet security requirements and the former US Consulate on Agron Street must undergo extensive renovations to fit the standards of a residential home.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)