Benjamin Netanyahu Quote
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About Benjamin Netanyahu
Born in Tel Aviv to secular Jewish parents, Netanyahu was raised in West Jerusalem and the United States. He returned to Israel in 1967 to join the Israel Defense Forces. He became a team leader in the Sayeret Matkal special forces and took part in missions, achieving the rank of captain before being honorably discharged. After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Netanyahu became an economic consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. He moved back to Israel in 1978 to found the Yonatan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute. From 1984 to 1988, Netanyahu was Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations. Netanyahu rose to prominence after being elected as chairman of Likud in 1993, becoming Leader of the Opposition. In the 1996 election, Netanyahu beat Shimon Peres, becoming the first Israeli prime minister elected directly by popular vote, and its youngest. Netanyahu and Likud were defeated in the 1999 election by Ehud Barak's One Israel alliance; and Netanyahu retired from politics, entering the private sector. He returned and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance, initiating reforms of the Israeli economy that led to significant growth, before resigning over disagreements on the Gaza disengagement plan.
Netanyahu returned to the lead Likud in December 2005 after Ariel Sharon stepped down to form a new party. Netanyahu was the leader of the opposition from 2006 to 2009. After the 2009 election, Netanyahu formed a coalition with other right-wing parties and was sworn in as prime minister again. He lead Likud to victory in the 2013 and 2015 elections. Netanyahu made his closeness to Donald Trump, a friend since the 1980s, central to his political appeal from 2016. During Trump's presidency, the United States recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and brokered the Abraham Accords, normalization agreements between Israel and the Arab world. Netanyahu has faced criticism over his policy of expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, deemed illegal under international law. In 2019, Netanyahu was indicted on charges of breach of trust, bribery, and fraud, following a three-year investigation, due to which he relinquished all ministerial posts, except for prime minister.
The 2018–2022 Israeli political crisis ensued after three elections failed to produce a government, which was solved after a coalition rotation agreement was reached between Netanyahu and centrist Blue and White alliance's Benny Gantz. The coalition collapsed in December 2020, and a new election was held in March 2021. In his penultimate government, Netanyahu led Israel's response to Covid and the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis. In June 2021, Netanyahu was removed from the premiership, becoming opposition leader, before returning as prime minister after forming a coalition with right-wing parties after the 2022 election. Netanyahu and his coalition pursued wide-ranging judicial reform, which met with a polarized reaction, with opponents holding mass protests in early 2023. On 7 October 2023, Israel suffered a large-scale attack by Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups, triggering the Israel–Hamas war. Due to the government's failure to anticipate the attack, Netanyahu has been criticized for presiding over Israel's biggest intelligence failure in 50 years, and mass protests calling for his removal have been held. Netanyahu's government has faced accusations of genocide during the war, culminating in the South Africa v. Israel case brought before the International Court of Justice in December 2023.