Israeli embassy’s planned Wellington move draws concern from tenants and protesters

Zara Boon

The Israeli embassy in Wellington is reportedly preparing to move from its Brandon Street offices to the Fisher Funds building at 20 Ballance Street, following more than a year of regular pro-Palestinian protests outside its current location.

The planned relocation was reported by The Post in May. The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa (PSNA), citing that report, said only some occupants of the 13-storey Ballance Street building had been told that the embassy was moving in.

However, the embassy’s own website and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) have continued to list Level 13, 36 Brandon Street as the embassy’s official Wellington address. It is therefore unclear whether the relocation has been completed or when the new premises will formally open.

The Ballance Street building is part of the portfolio of Primeproperty Group, led by Wellington property developer Eyal Aharoni. Aharoni is a former Israeli army major who moved to New Zealand in 1988. He has since become one of Wellington’s most prominent commercial property owners; the New Zealand Herald reported earlier this year that the NBR Rich List valued his net worth at $550 million.

The proposed move has become a new focus for Occupy Brandon Street, a Wellington-based pro-Palestinian protest group formed in early 2025. Members have regularly demonstrated outside the existing embassy, distributing material about the war in Gaza, and calling for the New Zealand Government to sanction Israel. The group has indicated it intends to continue protesting if the embassy relocates to Ballance Street.

PSNA has also opposed the relocation and has called on the Government to expel the Israeli ambassador. In May, the organisation said the reported move had caused concern among other tenants of the Fisher Funds building. Its claims about tenants’ views and the circumstances surrounding the embassy’s previous lease have not all been independently verified.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of a sometimes strained diplomatic relationship between New Zealand and Israel.

In 2004, Israeli citizens Eli Cara and Uriel Kelman were convicted after attempting to fraudulently obtain a New Zealand passport. The Helen Clark Government said there were “very strong reasons” to believe the pair were acting on behalf of Israeli intelligence services.

In response, New Zealand imposed a series of diplomatic restrictions. High-level visits between the two countries were suspended, Israeli officials travelling to New Zealand in an official capacity were required to obtain visas, planned foreign ministry consultations were put on hold, and approval of a new Israeli ambassador was delayed.

The episode is sometimes described by campaigners as New Zealand having broken off diplomatic relations with Israel. Official government records, however, describe the measures as restrictions on official contact rather than a complete severing of diplomatic relations.

In June 2005, Israel formally apologised for the involvement of its citizens in the passport affair and committed to preventing a recurrence. Clark accepted the apology, the restrictions were lifted, and normal diplomatic contact resumed. The New Zealand Government maintained that it had strong grounds for believing the two men had been acting for an Israeli intelligence agency, although Israel’s apology did not explicitly acknowledge that allegation.

More than two decades later, the reported embassy relocation has again made Israel’s diplomatic presence in Wellington a focus of political protest. For now, however, the embassy has not publicly updated its official address, leaving the timing and status of its move to Ballance Street uncertain.