Benjamin Netanyahu - soldier, diplomat and the ninth
Prime Minister of the State of Israel - was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 and
grew up in Jerusalem. He spent his adolescent years in the United States,
where his father - a noted historian - taught Jewish history.
Returning to Israel in 1967 to fulfill his military obligations, Netanyahu
volunteered for an elite commando unit of the IDF and participated in a
number of daring operations, including the release of hostages from a
hijacked Sabena Airlines aircraft at Ben-Gurion Airport, an operation in
which he was wounded. He was discharged from the IDF after six years with
the rank of captain. Netanyahu then studied at MIT in Boston and received
a B.Sc. in architecture and an M.Sc. in Management Studies. He also
studied political science at MIT and Harvard University. In 1976 he was
employed by the Boston Consulting Group, an international business
consulting firm, and later joined the management of Rim Industries in
Jerusalem.
Much affected by the death of his eldest brother Yoni - who had fallen
while commanding the 1976 Entebbe rescue operation to free the passengers
of an Air France airliner held hostage in Uganda - Benjamin Netanyahu
initiated and organized two international conferences on ways to combat
international terrorism, in 1979 in Jerusalem and in 1984 in Washington.
These forums attracted key political figures and opinion-makers in the
international community.
In 1982 Netanyahu joined Israel's diplomatic mission in the United States
- serving for two years as Deputy Chief of Mission under then-ambassador
Moshe Arens. He was also a member of the first delegation to the talks on
strategic cooperation between Israel and the United States. In 1984,
Netanyahu was appointed Israel's ambassador to the United Nations and held
this position for four years. An articulate speaker, forceful debater, and
media-oriented diplomat, he played a key role in efforts to enhance
Israel's image and improve understanding of the country's security needs
among the "movers and shakers" in American public life.
Soon after returning to Israel in 1988, Benjamin Netanyahu entered the
political arena and was elected a Member of Knesset by the Likud party - a
political movement with which his family had been identified ideologically
for two generations - and was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign
Affairs. He served in this position for four years, marked by the
intifada; the 1991 Gulf War; and the Madrid Peace Conference, which
initiated direct talks between Israel and her neighbors. Netanyahu's
talents, particularly in dealing with the media, again contributed greatly
to Israel's standing abroad.
In 1993, Netanyahu was elected Chairman of the Likud Party and its
candidate for Prime Minister. He led the political opposition in the
period prior to and following the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin - a time characterized by volatile public debate on basic issues,
sparked by controversy over ramifications of the Oslo agreements and
escalating Palestinian terrorism.
In 1996, in the first direct elections of an Israeli Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu defeated the incumbent Labor candidate Shimon Peres,
and became the ninth Prime Minister of the State of Israel, serving until 1999.
In his first year of office, Netanyahu concentrated on two burning
issues - healing the economy and taking a more resolute stand in the face
of Palestinian failures to comply with the terms of agreements signed
between them and Israel. Measures were introduced to restrain
inflationary trends, along with concrete steps to reduce the chronic
budget deficit. Based on a new policy designed to restructure the economy,
first steps were taken - not without opposition - towards
privatization of government-controlled companies and utilities.
Netanyahu's policy vis-a-vis the peace process was different from that of
his predecessors. He honored the terms of the Hebron agreement - for
the most part hammered out by the previous administration - but has
adopted a far less conciliatory attitude towards the Palestinians,
refusing to overlook their failure to live up to their commitments to
abolish the Palestinian Covenant and combat terrorism. In keeping with a long-standing belief that one must not
acquiesce to terrorism - even indirectly - Benjamin Netanyahu redefined
Israel's peace equation upon becoming Prime Minister: He rejected the
terminology categorizing Israelis murdered by Palestinian terrorists as
"victims of peace" and steadfastly refused to ignore the Palestinian
Authority's culpability. Demanding reciprocity, Netanyahu stipulated
that Palestinian gains, such as redeployment of Israeli forces and
expansion of autonomy, must be linked to genuine Palestinian efforts
towards peace.
Benjamin Netanyahu served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2002 until February 2003, when he was appointed Minister of Finance.