Background

Benjamin Netanyahu was born on October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, Israel. He is a son of Benzion Netanyahu (original name Benzion Mileikowsky) and Tzila Segal. He also has two brothers. His older brother, Yonatan, was killed in Uganda during Operation Entebbe in 1976. His younger brother, Iddo, is a writer and physician.

Netanyahu's father was born in Warsaw and his mother was born in 1912 in Petah Tikva, part of the future British Mandate of Palestine that later became Israel. His grandparents were born in the Russian Empire, but mother's parents emigrated to Minneapolis in the United States. Benjamin Netanyahu's grandfather was a leading Religious Zionist rabbi, Rabbi Natan Mileikowsky.

Education

Benjamin Netanyahu studied at Cheltenham High School and graduated in 1967. In 1972 he entered Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he studied architecture. He had to go back to Israel in order to serve in the Yom Kippur War. Netanyahu returned to the United States and under the name Ben Nitay continued his studies. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in architecture in 1975. He also studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management where he received a Master of Science degree in 1976. Netanyahu was studying towards a doctorate in political science, but his studies were broken off by the death of his brother Yonatan.

Career

Benjamin Netanyahu served in the Israeli Defense Forces from 1967 to 1973. He was on the team that rescued a hijacked jet plane at the Tel Aviv airport in 1972. In late 1972, Netanyahu returned to the United States, where he had previously studied, and continued his education. After completing his education, he was appointed as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in Massachusetts where he worked from 1976 to 1978. In 1978, Netanyahu returned to Israel and started connecting with several Israeli politicians. He also served as director of marketing for Rim Industries in Jerusalem from 1980 to 1982. In 1982, prominent politician Moshe Arens selected Benjamin Netanyahu as his Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, District of Columbia. He held this post until 1984.

Benjamin Netanyahu served as Israeli ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. In 1988, Netanyahu was elected a member of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) and was appointed Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, the post he held until 1991. In 1991, he became Deputy Minister and held this post until 1992. On February 3, 1993, Netanyahu became Chairman of the Likud Party. He was chosen as the Party's Prime ministerial candidate in the 1996 Israeli legislative election. Netanyahu won the election and assumed office on 18 June 1996. He also served as Minister of Science and Technology and Minister of Housing and Construction. In 1999, he was defeated by Ehud Barak in the elections. Following his defeat, he retired from politics and served as a senior consultant with Israeli communications equipment developer BATM Advanced Communications for two years.

Benjamin Netanyahu returned to politics in 2002 and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2002 to February 2003. He then became Minister of Finance, serving in this position till August 2005. Netanyahu became Chairman of the Likud Party once again on 20 December 2005. Following the elections on February 2009, he was elected as Prime Minister once again. After the victory in the 2013 elections, he was elected as Prime Minister for the third term. He was also elected as Prime Minister for the fourth term after the 2015 election. Netanyahu also served as Minister of Economic Strategy from 2009 to 2013, Minister of Communications from 2014 to 2015, and Minister of Economy, Health and Regional Cooperation from 2015 to 2019. He also held the post of Minister of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs and that of Minister of Defense. He authored several books in Hebrew and English, some of which have been translated into other languages.

Since 2016, Netanyahu has been under investigation by the Israeli police for a number of alleged corruption scandals. On February 13, 2018, Israeli police released a statement in which they said there was enough evidence from the two investigations to indict Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. However, Netanyahu responded that the allegations were baseless. Netanyahu was formally indicted on 21 November 2019. The start of the trial was scheduled for May 2020, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Achievements

• Benjamin Netanyahu is an Israeli politician and the 9th Prime Minister of Israel, known as the longest-serving Prime Minister in Israeli history. He is the first Prime Minister to be born in Israel after the establishment of the state. Netanyahu has also served as the leader of the Likud Party since 2005. Netanyahu made major reforms of the Israeli economy that improved Israel's subsequent economic performance. He invested a lot in the country's physical infrastructure.
  
  Benjamin Netanyahu is also known for his tough policy on terrorism. His books International Terrorism: Challenge and Response and Fighting Terrorism have been translated into other languages. Netanyahu also organized two international conferences on ways to combat terrorism. In 2014, he was ranked the 26th most-powerful person in the world by Forbes magazine.

Works

More photos

• book

  • International Terrorism: Challenge and Response

    (In 1979, several world renowned politicians, ambassadors,...)

    1981
  • Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorists

    (In this innovative and concise work, Israeli politician B...)

    1995
  • A Place Among the Nations

    (Israel's most charismatic spokesman traces the origins, h...)

    1993
  • A Durable Peace: Israel and its Place Among the Nations

    (This examination of the Middle East's troubled history tr...)

    1993
  • Terrorism: How the West Can Win

    (Compiles statements from political leaders, scholars of M...)

    1987

Politics

Benjamin Netanyahu joined the Likud Party in 1988. When he became Prime Minister of Israel he signed the Hebron Protocol according to which 80% of Hebron's territory came under Palestinian control and 20% of territory remain under Israeli control. Netanyahu signed the Wye River Memorandum that provided for the transfer of the territory of Judea and Samaria to the control of the Palestinian Authority in return for an obligation to take effective measures against terrorism. In 1996, Netanyahu opened the Western Wall Tunnel, which led to a series of clashes with Palestinians. He also expanded government privatization, liberalized currency regulations, and reduced deficits.

Benjamin Netanyahu has a hard line against all terrorists. He advises tighter immigration laws as a method to prevent terrorism. Representatives in his government introduced a bill which would allow the death penalty for terrorism to the Knesset. Under Netanyahu's leadership, the Israeli National Security Council has seen an expanded role in foreign policy planning and decision-making. In 2012 the Netanyahu government passed the Prevention of Infiltration Law. According to this law all people, including asylum-seekers, who enter Israel without permission will be detained. Later the Supreme Court of Israel declared this law illegal and Netanyahu requested new legislation to work around the Supreme Court ruling. He criticizes the open immigration policy of the European Union.

As Minister of Finance Netanyahu implemented several economic reforms in order to restore Israel's economy. He introduced reforms in the banking system and was also in favor of more liberalized markets. He led a program of privatization, reduced the size of the public sector, reformed and streamlined the taxation system. Netanyahu approved the Business Concentration Law, which intended to open Israel's highly concentrated economy to competition to lower consumer prices, reduce income inequality, and increase economic growth.

Views

Benjamin Netanyahu supports equal rights before the law for LGBT citizens. He said that he is proud that Israel is among the most open countries in the world in relation to the LGBT community discourse.

After Ethiopian Jewish protests against police brutality in 2015, Netanyahu said that there is no room for racism in Israel. He also supports the integration of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem into Israeli society.

Quotations: "I think that a strong Israel is the only Israel that will bring the Arabs to the peace table."

"Our policy is very simple. The Jewish state was set up to defend Jewish lives, and we always reserve the right to defend ourselves."

"If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more ‎violence. If the Jews put ‎down their weapons ‎today, there would be no ‎more Israel."

"I think that peace will require two states, a Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state."

"The right combination is between a free economy and social policy that addresses the needs of society and creates equal opportunity."

"The purpose of the Jewish state is to secure the Jewish future. That is why Israel must always have the ability to defend itself, against any threat."

"History has shown us time and again that what is right is not what is popular."

Personality

Those who know Benjamin Netanyahu said that he has several hobbies. He fills his time reading biographies and histories and likes to smoke a cigar at the end of the day. Netanyahu also likes to take walks and often spends his free time with his family.

Quotes from others about the person

• O'Brien: "Netanyahu is a formidable intellectual with a wide grasp of the international scene and a capacity to address international audiences."
  
  Professor Leon B. Groisser: "He did superbly. He was very bright. Organized. Strong. Powerful. He knew what he wanted to do and how to get it done. He's not the flippant, superficial person I keep reading about in the newspapers. He was organized and committed."

Interests

• Reading

Connections

Benjamin Netanyahu married Miriam Weizmann in 1972. He met her in Israel during his military service. The marriage produced a daughter. In 1978, Netanyahu met a non-Jewish British student named Fleur Cates and began an affair. Soon afterward Netanyahu and Weizmann divorced. In 1981, Netanyahu married Cates, and she converted to Judaism. The couple divorced in 1984.

Netanyahu's third wife, Sara Ben-Artzi, was working as a flight attendant on an El Al flight from New York to Israel when he met her. They married in 1991. The marriage produced two sons.

Father:

Benzion Netanyahu

Benzion Netanyahu (March 25, 1910 – April 30, 2012) was an Israeli historian. He worked as Professor of History at Cornell University.

Mother:

Tzila Segal

(August 28, 1912 – January 31, 2000)

ex-wife:

Miriam Weizmann

Miriam Weizmann (born September 13, 1949) is an External Director and Member of the Board at ICL Corporate.

ex-wife:

Fleur Cates

Fleur Cates is a member of the US Studies Centre's Council of Advisors, a Trustee of The Manhattan Institute, and a member of Business Executives for National Security.

Wife:

Sara Netanyahu

Sara Netanyahu (November 5, 1958) is the wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She is an educational and career psychologist.

Daughter:

Noa Netanyahu-Roth

(born April 29, 1978)

Son:

Yair Netanyahu

Yair Netanyahu (born July 26, 1991) is a former soldier in the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. He is known for defending his father on social media.

Son:

Avner Netanyahu

Avner Netanyahu (born October 10, 1994) is a national Bible champion and winner of the National Bible Quiz for Youth.

Brother:

Yonatan Netanyahu

Yonatan Netanyahu (March 13, 1946 – July 4, 1976) was an Israel Defense Forces officer who commanded the elite commando unit Sayeret Matkal during Operation Entebbe, an operation to rescue hostages held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976.

Brother:

Iddo Netanyahu

Iddo Netanyahu (born July 24, 1952) is an Israeli physician, author and playwright.

Grandfather:

Nathan Mileikowsky

Nathan Mileikowsky (August 15, 1879 – February 4, 1935) was a Zionist rabbi, educator, writer and political activist.

References

• Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu A deeply reported biography of the scandal-plagued Israeli Prime Minister, showing that people cannot understand Israel - its history, present, and future - without first understanding the life and worldview of the man who leads it.
  2018
• The Resistible Rise of Benjamin Netanyahu The first major English-language profile of Benjamin Netanyahu, the divisive and controversial Prime Minister of Israel.
  2016
• The Netanyahu Years Benjamin Netanyahu is currently serving his fourth term in office as Prime Minister of Israel, the longest serving Prime Minister in the country's history. Now Israeli journalist Ben Caspit puts Netanyahu's life under a magnifying glass, focusing on his last two terms in office.
  2017
• Time Magazine: The Strong Survive - Benjamin Netanyahu
  2019