Benjamin Netanyahu

Likud Party Chairman; Leader of the Opposition; Prime Minister 1996-1999

(Born 1949)

Benjamin Netanyahu 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 fulfil 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 BSc. in architecture and an MSc. 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 organised 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.

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 first intifada, the 1991 Gulf War and the Madrid Peace Conference, which initiated direct talks between Israel and her neighbours.

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 characterised 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, Netanyahu defeated the incumbent Labour candidate Shimon Peres, and became the ninth Prime Minister of the State of Israel, serving until 1999.

Netanyahu served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from November 2002 until February 2003, when he was appointed Minister of Finance. In August 2005, Netanyahu announced his resignation from the government, citing his opposition to the disengagement plan.

In December 2005, following the departure of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from the Likud party, Netanyahu was elected Chairman of Likud. He became Leader of the Opposition in January 2006, after the Likud officially pulled out of the government.

(Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)