Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949 in Tel Aviv) is the leader of Israel's Likud party and the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history. He has held the office across multiple non-consecutive terms: 1996–1999, 2009–2021, and from December 2022 onward.
Educated at MIT (architecture and management) and shaped by service in the IDF's elite Sayeret Matkal unit, Netanyahu entered diplomacy as Israel's Deputy Chief of Mission in Washington and then Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1984–1988). He first won the premiership in 1996, narrowly defeating Shimon Peres months after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, and signed the Hebron Protocol (1997) and the Wye River Memorandum (1998) with the Palestinian Authority.
Returning to power in 2009, he became closely identified with:
- A hard line on Iran's nuclear program, including his March 2015 address to the U.S. Congress opposing the JCPOA.
- The Abraham Accords (September 2020), normalizing Israel's relations with the UAE and Bahrain, brokered by the Trump administration.
- Expansion of West Bank settlements and opposition to a Palestinian state on the 1967 lines.
His later tenures have been marked by serious controversies. He was indicted in November 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust (Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000); the trial is ongoing. In 2023 his government advanced a judicial overhaul that triggered mass protests. After the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, Netanyahu led Israel's war in Gaza, and on 21 November 2024 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza — a warrant Israel rejects.
His brother Yonatan Netanyahu commanded and was killed during the 1976 Entebbe rescue, an event Netanyahu often cites as formative.
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In September 2020, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed the Abraham Accords at the White House, normalizing diplomatic ties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.