Benjamin Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister of Israel since its inception.
Born in Tel Aviv on October 21, 1949, he grew up in Jerusalem before moving with his family to Pennsylvania during his high school years, where his father taught history. In 1967 Netanyahu returned to Israel and joined the IDF's Sayeret Matkal special forces unit, where he served until 1973.
He took part in many military operations, including a 1972 rescue mission of hostages in a hijacked Sabena airplane, during which he was shot in the shoulder. Netanyahu finished his military service in 1972, but returned to serve in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, after which he was promoted to the rank of Captain.
His brother Yonatan "Yoni," an IDF officer, was killed during Operation Entebbe in 1976 at the Entebbe Airport in Uganda where Israelis were being held hostage. His was the only death resulting from the mission.
He has degrees in architecture and business management from MIT. He also studied political science at MIT and Harvard University. He served as Israel's ambassador to the UN from 1984-1988, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs under Ariel Sharon's government.
In 1993 Netanyahu was elected Likud party chairman and served as the leader of the opposition until being elected prime minister in 1996. In 2009, he was elected prime minister for the second time, in January 2013 a third, and in March 2015 a fourth.
He is married to Sara Netanyahu with whom he has two children, Yair and Avner.
In 2018, the Mossad stole Iran's nuclear archive. Netanyahu later presented the information to the international community. Netanyahu strongly opposes a nuclear deal with Iran.
Under the rotation government set by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid, Netanyahu serves as the leader of the opposition.
The move against Al Jazeera won’t stop it from spreading calumnies about Israel, but it sends a message that the Jewish state will not just sit back and let this happen without a symbolic battle.
As their frustration grew, Biton’s comments may have revealed the party’s position—its departure could indeed come “soon.”
If the question is "Did Israel radically improve its security situation vis a vis Hamas compared to all prior rounds of conflict," the answer is unquestionably yes, and then some.
Netanyahu is deliberately scuttling the deal and abandoning the hostages to their deaths, they wrote.
Netanyahu now follows Ben-Gvir's lead. How far has he fallen?
Protests calling for hostage deal in Tel Aviv • Hamas will weigh options amid Rafah operation • Hezbollah claims to target Golan Heights
Today, as Netanyahu’s government navigates its security landscape amid international scrutiny and conditional support, the lesson is clear.
Burns’s emergency meeting with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani in Doha is “aimed at exerting maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas to continue negotiating," an official briefed on the talks.
The threats joined similar comments made during the past week, and indicate mounting public pressure amongst Israel's right-wing to stop negotiating with Hamas to release the Israeli hostages.
Benjamin Netanyahu may be taking political considerations into account surrounding hostage negotiations, source says
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