Benjamin Netanyahu

Lexicon of Terms

MK Benjamin Netanyahu

Political Biography

Benjamin Netanyahu

Statesman, leader of the Likud Party, member of the Knesset, minister and prime minister of Israel (1996 – 1999, 2009).

Netanyahu was born in Israel in 1949, and became the first Prime Minister who was born after the establishment of the State. In his youth, he spent several years with his family in the United States and returned for his military service, which he completed between 1967 and 1972 in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit. Following his discharge he returned to the US and studied his B.A. and M.Sc. degrees at MIT. During his B.A. studies he returned to Israel to fight in the Yom Kippur War.

In 1976, Netanyahu was active in the promotion of Israeli public relations in the United States. His brother, Yoni, was killed that year during Entebbe Operation and Benjamin subsequently returned to Israel. He established the Yonatan Research Institute for Terrorism in 1980, named after his brother, and served as its director. In 1982 – 1984 he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC, and was then appointed as Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, a position he held until 1988. In this post Netanyahu initiated the opening of the UN archives on Nazi war criminals. He also devoted significant time for public relations of Israeli policy in American media.

Netanyahu was elected to the 12th Knesset (1988) on behalf of the Likud. He was appointed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and later as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, serving in the latter position as a delegate and main spokesperson of the Israeli delegation to the Madrid Conference. Following the elections to the 13th Knesset (1992) and the defeat of the Likud, he was supportive of creating primary elections within the party. In March 1993 he was elected as party chairman, on a hawkish platform and denouncing the Oslo Accords.

Following the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Netanyahu succeeded – with the assistance of Ariel Sharon – to prevent Rafael Eitan and David Levy from running for prime minister and include their lists of candidates for the Knesset in a joint list with the Likud. This action left two sole candidates for prime minister – Shimon Peres and Netanyahu. These elections were the first direct elections for the prime minister. Netanyahu promoted the slogan “Peace with Security” and was elected by 50.49% of the voters.

Netanyahu’s government did not annul the Oslo Accords, but refused to promote them until the Palestinians upheld their commitments to Israel. The number of terrorist attacks was relatively decreased during his term. In January 1997, the Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron was signed. The Protocol was sponsored by US President Bill Clinton and included Israel’s commitment to withdraw from most parts of the city. In the summer of 1997 Netanyahu ordered the assassination of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Jordan, which failed and resulted in the releasing of dozens of Palestinian detainees. The Wye River Memorandum was initiated by Clinton in October 1998 and included an agreement on further Israeli withdrawal in response to a change of policies within the Palestinian Authority. Several factors, including postponement of the implementation of the Wye Memorandum and the political relationship between Netanyahu and the left-wing parties, brought forward the elections to the 15th Knesset and for the prime minister. In the direct elections of 1999 Ehud Barak was elected as prime minister, and Netanyahu resigned from the party leadership following his defeat.

Towards the direct elections for the prime minister in 2001, Netanyahu sought reelection. The Knesset passed legislation allowing him to do so as an independent candidate from outside the Knesset. However, Netanyahu decided not to run and Ariel Sharon was elected. (The 2001 direct elections for the prime minister was the last of its kind.) In 2002, following the resignation of the Labor Party from the government, Netanyahu was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Following the elections to the 16th Knesset (2003) he was appointed as Minister of Finance, leading a distinct capitalist policy, which included cutbacks in welfare budgets, promotion of privatization and other reforms. His policies accomplished economic growth, but were also criticized for benefiting the upper classes at the expense of improving the status of the middle and lower socioeconomic classes.

In late 2005, after the formation of the Kadima party and Ariel Sharon’s split from the Likud, Netanyahu was elected to lead the Likud. The party suffered a downfall to 12 seats in the elections for the 17th Knesset (2006), and Netanyahu became the Chairman of the Opposition. Towards the elections of the 18th Knesset, Netanyahu was reelected as head of the Likud and as its candidate for prime minister. The Likud won 27 seats in the elections for the 18th Knesset and became the second largest faction – behind Kadima with one mandate less. The right-wing bloc in the Knesset, which totaled 65 members, recommended that Netanyahu form the government. On March 31, 2009, Netanyahu presented the Knesset with his government, made up of members of the Likud, Yisrael Beitenu, Labor, Shas, Bayit Yehudi, and United Torah Judaism, and began serving as Prime Minister.