Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
בנימין נתניהו
	Official portrait, 2023
Prime Minister of Israel
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 29 December 2022
President	Isaac Herzog
Preceded by	Yair Lapid
	In office; 31 March 2009 – 13 June 2021
President	Shimon Peres ; Reuven Rivlin
Alternate	Benny Gantz (2020–21)
Preceded by	Ehud Olmert
Succeeded by	Naftali Bennett
	In office; 18 June 1996 – 6 July 1999
President	Ezer Weizman
Preceded by	Shimon Peres
Succeeded by	Ehud Barak
Leader of the Opposition
	In office; 28 June 2021 – 29 December 2022
Prime Minister	Naftali Bennett; Yair Lapid
Preceded by	Yair Lapid
Succeeded by	Yair Lapid
	In office; 16 January 2006 – 31 March 2009
Prime Minister	Ehud Olmert
Preceded by	Amir Peretz
Succeeded by	Tzipi Livni
	In office; 3 February 1993 – 18 June 1996
Prime Minister	Yitzhak Rabin; Shimon Peres
Preceded by	Yitzhak Shamir
Succeeded by	Shimon Peres
Chairman of Likud
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 20 December 2005
Preceded by	Ariel Sharon
	In office; 3 February 1993 – 6 July 1999
Preceded by	Yitzhak Shamir
Succeeded by	Ariel Sharon
Ministerial roles
Personal details
Born	21 October 1949 (age 74); Tel Aviv, Israel
Political party	Likud
Spouse(s)	Miriam Weizmann; (m. 1972; div. 1978); Fleur Cates; (m. 1981; div. 1984); Sara Ben-Artzi (m. 1991);
Children	3
Parents	Benzion Netanyahu; Tzila Segal;
Relatives	Nathan Mileikowsky (grandfather); Yonatan Netanyahu (brother); Iddo Netanyahu (brother); Elisha Netanyahu (uncle); Nathan Netanyahu (cousin);
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, MS); Harvard University (PhD, dropped out);
Occupation	Politician; diplomat; writer; economic consultant; marketing executive;
Cabinet	27; 32; 33; 34; 35;
Signature
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Military service
Nickname(s)	Bibi
Branch/service	Israel Defense Forces
Years of service	1967–1973
Rank	Seren (Captain)
Unit	Sayeret Matkal
Battles/wars	War of Attrition; Yom Kippur War; Israel–Hamas war;

Benjamin (Binyamin) "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He was born in Tel Aviv on October 21, 1949 to mother Tzila Segal and father Benzion Netanyahu (originally Mileikowsky).^[3]^[4]^[5] One year after the establishment of the state of Israel. He is also the country’s longest-serving prime minister. From June 2021 until end 2022, he was the Leader of the Opposition, Knesset seat/position which he also held from 2005 to 2009.

Corruption charge

On February 28, 2019, Netanyahu was indicted on bribe and fraud charges in three different cases.

2020 election

Main page: 2020 Israeli legislative election

On April 20 April 2020, Opposition Leader Benny Gantz and Netanyahu announced an agreement on a unity government had been reached following the 2020 legislative election. The deal would involve both parties splitting power and Gantz and Netanyahu taking turns being prime minister. The deal said that Gantz would be Vice Prime Minister until October 2021, by then he would replace Netanyahu to become Prime Minister.^[6]

Fifth term

In May 2021, Hamas fired rockets on Israel from Gaza, which caused Netanyahu to act Operation Guardian of the Walls, lasting eleven days.^[7]

After the 2021 Israel-Palestine crisis, Israeli politician and leader of the Yamina alliance Naftali Bennett announced that he has agreed to a deal with Yair Lapid to forge a coalition government that would remove Netanyahu from his Prime Minister position.^[8] This is after the 2021 March election.^[9]

Sixth term

After the 2022 election, Netanyahu was sworn in as Prime Minister again.^[10] He officially started his sixth term on 29 December 2022.^[11]

The first months of Netanyahu's sixth term focused on reforms in the judicial branch. His critics said his reforms would have a negative effect on the separation of powers.^[12]^[13]^[14] After weeks of public protests, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant spoke against the reform on 25 March.^[15] He was removed from his post by Netanyahu the following day.^[16]^[17]

On May 20, 2024 the International Criminal court Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan applied for an arrest warrant for the arrest of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu.^[18] Charges brought by Karim Khan include but are not limited to:

Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare
Intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population

Army career

Netanyahu was a captain in the Israel Defense Forces. He fought in the raid on Lebanon in 1968. He also fought in the raid on Yarden in 1968. His brother Yonatan (1946, New York City – 1976, Entebbe) commanded the special reconnaissance unit Sayeret Matkal.

Books and articles

Books:
Through the years Netanyahu authored six books, three of which focus on counter-terrorism. The books he wrote himself include:

International Terrorism: Challenge and Response (The Jonathon Institute, 1980) (ISBN 0-87855-894-2)
Terrorism: How the West Can Win (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1986) (ISBN 0-380-70321-1)
A Place Among the Nations (Bantam, 1993) (ISBN 0-553-08974-9)
Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorism (Diane Pub Co, 1995) (ISBN 0-374-52497-1)
A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among the Nations (Warner Books, 2000) (ISBN 0-446-52306-2)
Bibi: My Story (Threshold Editions [Simon&Schuster], November, 2022)

Benjamin Netanyahu Media

1967 photograph of Netanyahu by the Israel Defense Forces
Netanyahu studied at MIT between 1972 and 1976, earning SB and SM degrees.
Netanyahu (right) with Sorin Hershko, a soldier wounded and permanently paralyzed in Operation Entebbe, 2 July 1986
Netanyahu's first meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at the Erez crossing, 4 September 1996
Netanyahu sitting with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat at the Wye River Memorandum, 1998
Netanyahu with his son Yair at the Western Wall in 1998
Netanyahu in a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev in Russia, 24 March 2011
Netanyahu with Yohanan Danino, appointed Israel's Chief of Police in 2011
Netanyahu, Hillary Clinton, George J. Mitchell and Mahmoud Abbas at the start of the direct talks, 2 September 2010
Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin at the funeral of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, Jerusalem, 30 September 2016
Video clip about Benjamin Netanyahu by Israel News Company