Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu currently serves as Leader of the Opposition and as the chairman of the Likud – National Liberal Movement. He served in office for a total of 15 years, making him the longest-serving Israeli prime minister in history. He was also the first prime minister to be born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence.

Born in Tel Aviv to secular Jewish parents, Netanyahu was raised both in Jerusalem, and for a time in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 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 several 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 1984–1988, Netanyahu was Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations. In 1993, he was elected as the Chairman of Likud, becoming Leader of the Opposition. He went on to defeat the incumbent Prime Minister Shimon Peres at the 1996 election, and was appointed as Israel's youngest-ever Prime Minister.

After serving a single term, Netanyahu and Likud were heavily defeated in the 1999 election by Ehud Barak's One Israel party; Netanyahu chose to retire from politics entirely, and entered the private sector. However several years later, after his successor as Likud Chairman, Ariel Sharon, became Prime Minister, Netanyahu was convinced to return to politics, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance. As Finance Minister, Netanyahu initiated major reforms of the Israeli economy that were credited by commentators as having significantly improved Israel's subsequent economic performance. Netanyahu later clashed with Sharon, eventually resigning over disagreements regarding the Gaza disengagement plan.