How Benjamin Netanyahu shaped Israel in his own image

First elected as prime minister in 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu has won five elections since, making him the longest-serving leader in Israel’s history (exceeding even David Ben-Gurion, its founding PM). He has spent just 18 months out of office since 2009. His right-wing politics, particularly his approach to the Palestinian question, have profoundly shaped Israeli society and public opinion.

He has seldom been personally popular (recent polls suggest only 40% of Israelis trust him), but “King Bibi”, an exceptionally shrewd operator, long ago established himself as “Mr Security”, the man best placed to protect Israel from its enemies, notably Hamas and Iran. To his detractors, he is ruthless, reckless, a danger to democracy who prioritises his own political survival over Israel’s interests – and, of course, the driving force behind the brutal war in Gaza. He is, nevertheless, by far the most influential figure in Israeli politics today, and arguably in the entire Middle East.

Where do his politics come from?

Not least, from his father. He was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 – the middle son of Benzion Netanyahu, a Polish-born medieval historian who was a Revisionist Zionist (militant, territorially maximalist) and was often openly critical of his son. His teenage years were spent between Israel and Philadelphia, where his father taught; but when he was 18, in 1967, he moved back to Israel for military service. During five distinguished years in the army, he fought in Lebanon and served in the Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s equivalent of the SAS, alongside his brothers Yonatan and Iddo, to whom he was close. In 1976, Yonatan (Yoni) was killed during a special forces raid on Uganda’s Entebbe Airport to free the 106 mostly Israeli hostages held by Palestinian and German terrorists. The only Israeli military casualty of the operation, Yoni is revered as a national hero; his death inspired his brother’s political career.

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In what way?

It fell to Netanyahu, who was in Boston, studying at MIT, to break the news to his parents; he later founded an anti-terrorism institute in Yoni’s memory, setting him on a path to politics. He was hired by Israel’s ambassador to the US in 1982, became its representative to the UN in 1984, and was elected to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, in 1988. Five years later, he became leader of Likud, Israel’s main right-wing party; and in 1996 he beat Shimon Peres to become PM. His first term was troubled. Right-wingers were furious that he agreed to cede 80% of Hebron to Palestinian Authority control, among other concessions in the occupied West Bank; the Left accused him of “killing the peace”, by undermining the 1993 Oslo Accords, of which he was a fierce, long-term critic. He lost the 1999 election.

How did he make a comeback?

Netanyahu served as foreign minister and then finance minister in Ariel Sharon’s government, before resigning in 2005 in protest at Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied Gaza Strip. In 2009, he was elected PM again. Migration to Israel of more than a million citizens of the former Soviet Union (at least 10% of Israel’s whole population) over the previous 20 years had led the country’s politics to take a more conservative, nationalistic turn – reinforced by the collapse of the peace process, the Second Intifada (2000-2005) and rising Palestinian terrorism. By 2007, Hamas had taken power in Gaza.

What policies has he pursued?

A champion of free market economics who has nurtured hi-tech startups, he has also gained notoriety for trying to reshape Israel’s institutions. His attempts at media manipulation, allegedly offering deals in return for favourable coverage, have embroiled him in two criminal cases; while his proposed “judicial reform” law is widely seen as an attempt to weaken the judiciary. On the Palestinian issue, Netanyahu, in theory, changed tack in 2009, endorsing a two-state solution with a “demilitarised” Palestine. But he continued to undermine it in practice. His governments have supported Israeli settlers who build on land in the West Bank designated by the UN as Palestinian. He has been in a coalition with ultra-nationalist settler parties since late 2022. His Gaza strategy was, until recently, to keep Hamas in power, as a counterweight to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. He allowed Qatar to fund Hamas, believing that it could be safely contained militarily. Since Hamas’s attacks of 7 October 2023, he has once again opposed a two-state solution, saying that he was “proud to have prevented the establishment of a Palestinian state... after we saw the little Palestinian state in Gaza”.

How did 7 October affect him?

The attacks, in which 1,195 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, were the result of serious intelligence failings, and initially dealt a crushing blow to Netanyahu’s reputation, and to his Hamas policy. His relentless prosecution of the war in Gaza since, in which 64,200 people have died, according to Palestinian authorities, has damaged Israel’s global standing (though the campaign still has significant support at home). It is widely suspected that he has kept the war going to delay a reckoning over his failures, and to reduce the possibility of his being tried on corruption charges, relating to media manipulation and allegedly receiving expensive gifts from businessmen.

Why is he still in power?

What looked like a disaster has also proved an opportunity: it gave Israel the chance not just to destroy Hamas as a military force, but to decimate its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, and to execute the “12-day war” against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Netanyahu has seized the opportunity to redraw the map of the Middle East, humiliating Iran and its “axis of resistance” and bolstering his own position. But the basic tensions remain: his own coalition pushes for “total victory” in Gaza, while much of the world, the Muslim world in particular, demands a fair settlement for the Palestinians.

Dealing with Washington

“Who the f**k does he think he is? Who’s the f**king superpower here?” These were reportedly Bill Clinton’s words after his first meeting with Netanyahu, in 1996. The Israeli PM knows the US and its media well, and – buoyed by pro-Israel lobby groups and support from the Christian Right – he has felt confident to push back against Democratic presidents who have sought to rein in Israel. Barack Obama’s officials described him as “untrustworthy” and “disrespectful toward the president”. In 2015, Netanyahu accepted a Republican invitation to address Congress – and railed against the nuclear deal Obama was brokering with Iran. He had better relations with Joe Biden, especially after 7 October. But by the time Biden left office, he was privately referring to Netanyahu as an “asshole”. Donald Trump, by contrast, has been a near-perfect ally. The US officially recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in Trump’s first term. In 2020, his administration brokered the Abraham Accords, normalising relations between Israel and several Arab states; Trump joined Israel’s attacks on Iran, and has suggested Palestinians be removed from Gaza. He has even called for Netanyahu’s corruption charges to be dropped.