‘The Mar-A-Lago of Israel’: Sold via Instagram for a Record Price

JERUSALEM  (JNS) – Question: What cost $22 million (about NIS 79 million) and was sold on social media?  Answer: The highest real-estate deal of 2025 in Israel thus far—a property dubbed “the Mar-a-Lago of Israel.”

Mar-a-Lago is an exclusive resort on an island in Palm Beach, Florida, that famously became the residence of US President Donald Trump and his family in 2019.

Amir Davidson, an American immigrant, said he has made it his mission to help Jews find their place in Israel, just as he did with his family 15 years ago.

“It is my shlichut (mission): Bringing Diaspora Jews to Israel, to help Am Yisrael (the people of Israel) as much as possible and to do everything I can to make sure that they have a good experience here,” Davidson, managing director of Davidson Real Estate (“The Home of Luxury Real Estate in Israel”) and the real estate broker of the record-selling deal in Caesarea, told JNS. “I’ve been working for the past three years to prove to Israel that I can sell properties on social media.”

The Caesarea sale Davidson clinched via Instagram outsold the last most expensive property purchased by American filmmaker and actor Quentin Tarantino for $13.8 million (48 million shekels). 

The Caesarea mansion backs onto the sea. It is a fan-shaped ranch with an above-ground basement, an infinity pool, a Turkish hammam, a large gym, a world-class spa with an interior jet pool, hot tub and massage rooms.”That’s why we branded it as the Mar-a-Lago of Israel,” Davidson said. 

Eran Rolls, chairman of the Israeli Building Center, noted that the global rise in antisemitism is encouraging more Jews to return home and invest in Israel, which he says is a positive and inspiring trend. He said realtors like Davidson are “outstanding.”

“Time and again, Israel proves its economic stability,” Rolls said.  “While we welcome high-end investments, it is equally important to ensure that every segment of the population has the opportunity to purchase land and a home in Israel. As we always say, professionals in the Israeli real estate sector are truly carrying out the mission of building and settling the Land of Israel.”

For his part, Davidson said that since the start of the Swords of Iron War, “we have had a lot of high-net-worth Jewish buyers from the Diaspora buying homes in Israel.”

He added, “They are looking for homes and communities to match their lifestyles.  Some told me that they are scared to walk in malls in New York, Canada and France, but another reason they buy is that they see this as an investment in Israel and a testament of their ongoing support.”

While first-time home buyers in Israel receive a tax break, there is no tax break for foreign buyers.  The prices, the war and the uncertainty of life in Israel have not hampered the demand for properties.

Born in Boston, Davidson made aliyah with his parents and siblings in 2011. He went on to serve as a commander in the army in the IDF’s elit Unit 8200. He began his Bachelor’s degree at Reichman in Business and Entrepreneurship, transferring to St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada.

It was there that he began to feel a sense of purpose.  Along with a friend, now his business partner, he led activities to spread the word about Israel’s good name while he finished his Bachelor’s degree.  He invited counselors, professors, peers and anyone he met to Shabbat meals.

“It was hard to keep kosher in Nova Scotia,” he recalled.  “We ate a lot of fish, and drove twelve hours to Montreal to buy meat.”

Upon his return, he rejoined the family business founded by his mother, Liora Davidson, and decided to market it as a startup. Until then, the company had been using traditional marketing methods, relying on word of mouth, newspaper advertisements and periodicals to spread the word.

Breakthrough in Caesarea

Davidson created a marketing and branding campaign and decided to use social media to introduce the most lucrative and beautiful properties in Caesarea, Netanya, Hadera, Tel Aviv, Herzliya and Jerusalem.

His first big breakthrough using social media came shortly after the war began, with a 20-million-plus-shekel home on the Caesarea Golf Course, which was sold by video to a resident of the United States.  The sale set a new record in 2023.  

Davidson gives clients what he calls “an all-in-one package” property management program, taking care of everything for them.

“We make sure payments are made to municipalities and utility companies, and oversee repairs when they are needed,” he said. “Our concierge service even stocks the refrigerator, provides private chefs and helps clients make renovations and upgrades for the property.”

Properties are marketed in American dollars instead of shekels, because most of his clients are international, Davidson said. While most of his properties fall into the “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” category, Davidson said that his main goal is to sell quality and not just pricey residences.

“Our properties start at about three or four million shekels,” he said. As an example, he cited the seaside resort of Givat Olga in Hadera, which has waterfront properties that start at three million shekels.

The company also sells unique properties in Jerusalem.  One in particular is featured on his Instagram account, a sprawling penthouse with a splendid view of the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem.

With more than 80,000 followers on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and TikTok, millions of viewers around the world, and as many as 15,000 shares per post, he said the word gets out quickly on social media.

“Our followers send our videos to friends, and we get calls from clients, telling us precisely what they are looking for,” he said. “Mostly, we are buyers’ agents.  We use all of our networks and contacts to find the home that the buyer is looking for.  They usually have specific needs.  They give us the parameters of what they are looking for and we go to work, negotiating with the sellers, connecting the clients with lawyers, mortgage consultants, and we are around after the purchase as well.”

He said because many of his clients are not Israeli, his firm has mortgage consultants who guide them through the process, check eligibility, and bid out the mortgages with different banks, based on their documentation. 

“They get red-carpet service from banks with international branches,” Davidson said. “This business comes from the purest place in my heart.  I work more than 12 hours a day.”

Davidson, 27, who is not married, takes part in Jewish leadership and entrepreneurship programs and lives in Caesarea, where his family moved immediately after making aliyah.

“It is one of the best places to live in the world,” he said.  “It combines both history and the ocean and is managed by a private company—the Rothschild Foundation.  The whole town is a gated community.”

He said he enjoys the international flavor of the community.

“There are people from France, South Africa, Australia, Canada, even China.  It is a true mixture of Am Yisrael.  There are Orthodox, Haredi and secular.  It is a real diverse mixture.  At the synagogue, Ashkenazi and Sephardi pray together.”

Of all the areas where he sells homes, Davidson believes that Caesarea offers the best value.

“You get more land, more house, a closer proximity to the sea and the prices are comparable to Tel Aviv, but you get much more for your money,” he said. “Ten million shekels can buy a 600-square-meter (more than 700 square yards) lot with a 400-square-meter (almost 480 square yards) home, including a swimming pool, five bedrooms, that is just a 45-50 minute drive to Tel Aviv or 30 minutes to Herzliya.

As a rule, he said, the further away from Tel Aviv, the better the value.

“Prices in Israel are always going up,” Davidson said. “I have seen them spike both during and after wars, and I believe that when this war is over, the trend will continue.  The only thing Israel can’t import is land. There is a high domestic and foreign demand.   People in the Diaspora make the demand higher than the supply.”

He added: “After the war, there is bound to be a surge in real estate.  The foreign demand and people wanting to live the way they did where they came from is driving up the prices in many places.”