In an effort to deflect public criticism of what is perceived as an extravagant lifestyle unbefitting to a civil servant, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has sold his luxury apartment, local media reported Monday.

A foreign company will pay Barak 26.5 million shekels (just over 7 million U.S. dollars) for the five-room apartment on the 31st floor of the Akirov Towers in northern Tel Aviv, according to the Globes business daily.

That figure is almost threefold the amount Barak paid for the 450-square-meter property in 2003, although significantly lower than the price of 10.6 million dollars he originally sought when it was put on the market in 2008, which scared away potential buyers, the report said.

Barak, who spent his modest childhood at a farming community in central Israel, detailed the considerations that drove him to sell the flat, which he bought as a private businessman, in a message posted on his Facebook page Sunday evening.

"Upon my return to public life, it was hard not to notice the criticism regarding my residence, which I did not think was right to ignore. My wife and I decided that selling the apartment was the proper thing to do in light of the recognition that it creates a feeling of alienation and detachment among wide segments of the public," Barak wrote.

The disclosure came just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet unanimously approved a series of measures aimed at alleviating the country's housing crisis.

The defense minister would not reveal the identity of the buyer, allowing only that he would provide his details to the relevant authorities in accordance with reporting regulations that bind government ministers, sources familiar with the deal told Globes.

Barak said that he and his wife, Nili Priel, a businesswoman, would relocate to "a smaller, less expensive" apartment.

According to Globes, their new home is a 200-square-meter apartment on the 23rd floor of Assuta Towers, another high-end residential complex in Tel Aviv, which they bought two years ago for a cool price of 2.1 million dollars.

Construction of the towers is scheduled for completion in 2014.