Born 1949 in Tel Aviv. Leader of the Likud Party and Prime Minister. His father, Benzion Netanyahu, is a noted Jewish historian. Benjamin Netanyahu grew up in Jerusalem and in Philadelphia, and spent his young adulthood in Boston.
Netanyahu served in an elite Israeli army unit, taking part in various across–border operations and rising to the rank of captain. He then pursued academic studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, earning a master’s degree in architecture and business administration. His fluent English and array of skills brought him to the attention of Moshe Arens, the Likkud leader then serving as Israel’s ambassador to the United States.
Arens had Netanyahu appointed “minister plenipotentiary” in the Israel Embassy in Washington where Netanyahu served from 1982 to 1986. He was then appointed by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, a post he held until 1988.
Returning to Israel, Netanyahu was elected to the Knesset in 1988 and was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister under Moshe Arens. He retained this post when David Levy succeeded Arens, but serious disagreements with Levy forced him to leave the Foreign Ministry and he became deputy minister in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Netanyahu served on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and defense Committee and led the opposition to the foreign policy of the Rabin–Peres government, vehemently opposing the Oslo Agreements, but supporting the Israel–Jordan peace treaty.
He served his first tenure as Prime Minister June 18, 1996 – July 6, 1999. (He would become Prime Minister again in March 2009.)
He has authored several books, including two on fighting terrorism, and is married to his third wife, Sara, with whom he has two sons.
His brother, Jonathan (Yonathan), was a colonel in the Israel army who was killed (very early a.m. July 4, 1976 or possibly just before midnight July 3, 1976) at age thirty leading the (ultimately successful) operation to rescue Israeli and other passengers hijacked (June 27, 1976) to Entebbe, Uganda. Jonathan was the sole Israeli military casualty of the historic rescue (see separate entry 1976 CE: ENTEBBE)