Netanyahu << neh tahn YAH hoo >>, Benjamin (1949-…), a Likud Party politician, became prime minister of Israel in December 2022. Netanyahu had previously served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. In July 2019, he became the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history, passing Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, for time spent in office.
Netanyahu, whose first name is sometimes spelled Binyamin, was born in Tel Aviv on Oct. 21, 1949. He served in the Israel Defense Forces from 1967 to 1972. He then studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he received a master’s degree in management in 1976. From 1984 to 1988, he was the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
Netanyahu was elected to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in 1988 and served as deputy minister of foreign affairs from 1988 to 1991. He was elected leader of Likud in 1993 and became prime minister in 1996. He resigned as Likud leader in 1999, after losing a bid for reelection as prime minister.
Netanyahu has criticized the peace agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). These agreements, reached in the early and middle 1990’s, provide for Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, territories Israel had occupied since 1967. Netanyahu has claimed that the agreements did not include enough provisions for Israel, such as guaranteed security and allowance for its population growth.
During Netanyahu’s first term as prime minister, Israel’s peace negotiations with the PLO stalled. Netanyahu especially angered Palestinians with his decision to expand Israeli West Bank settlements and to build new Israeli housing in East Jerusalem.
From 2002 to 2003, Netanyahu served as Israel’s foreign minister. From 2003 to 2005, he served as the country’s finance minister. In 2005, he was again elected leader of Likud. In Knesset elections in 2009, Likud and an allied party won the second most seats. Netanyahu was asked to form a government, and he became prime minister again. Likud retained power after elections in 2013 and 2015.
Although Likud performed well in elections in April and September 2019, Netanyahu was unable to form a coalition government. His opponent, Benny Gantz of the moderate Blue and White Party, was also unable to form a government, and Netanyahu remained prime minister. In November, Israel’s attorney general announced criminal charges against Netanyahu, for alleged fraud, bribery, and breach of trust. Netanyahu denied any wrongdoing.
After another round of inconclusive elections in March 2020, Netanyahu and Gantz agreed in April to form a unity government. According to the terms of the agreement, Netanyahu was to continue as prime minister, with Gantz serving as alternate prime minister. After 18 months, Gantz was to become prime minister. In May, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Netanyahu could serve as prime minister even as he was being tried on the criminal charges against him. Netanyahu and Gantz then formed a government. In December, the government collapsed after failing to pass the budget for the coming year.
In March 2021, elections took place for an unprecedented fourth time in two years. The Likud party received the most votes, but failed to win a parliamentary majority. Netanyahu also failed to build a new coalition. The opposition created an eight-party coalition government that the Knesset approved in June. Netanyahu, as head of the Likud party, became the new opposition leader.
In November 2022 elections, Likud won the most seats in the Knesset. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, then asked Netanyahu to form a new government. Netanyahu formed a coalition government with a number of right-wing parties, including the far-right Religious Zionism party.
In early 2023, Netanyahu’s government proposed changes to Israel’s judicial system that would give the prime minister greater control over the appointment of judges. The changes also would take away some of the Supreme Court’s power to strike down laws. Thousands of Israelis protested against these changes.
In October 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a major attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip. Hamas killed over 1,400 people in Israel and took more than 200 others back to Gaza as hostages. In response, Israel declared war on Hamas and launched counterattacks against targets in Gaza, killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians. After the declaration of war, Netanyahu and Benny Gantz again formed a unity government, to enable Israel to focus on its fight against Hamas.
