Profile: Binyamin Netanyahu
Israel's youngest Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, was one of the most right-wing and controversial leaders in the country's history.
Since his electoral defeat in 1999, he has made a political comeback, winning back the leadership of the Likud Party in December 2005 after the departure of long-time rival Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Mr Netanyahu resigned from Mr Sharon's cabinet in August 2005, in protest at Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
He had taken up the post of finance minister after the Sharon government was elected in early 2003. He accepted the job after the prime minister agreed to give him a free hand in key economic issues.
Previously he served as foreign minister for three months under Mr Sharon.
Media savvy
Mr Netanyahu's three-year premiership was brief but dramatic.
His election in 1996, by the narrowest of margins, represented a major turning point in Israeli politics.
To his supporters, he came across as young, handsome, energetic, articulate in English and a master of how to handle the Western media. In short, a man of the age.
LIFE AND TIMES
Known as Bibi to his friends and enemies alike, he was the first Israeli leader to be born after the creation of the Jewish state.
Politically, he positioned himself to the right of previous leaders of the secular centre-right Likud Party.
The Israeli leaders who preceded him, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, had supported the return of some land to the Arabs as means of winning security, but Mr Netanyahu's view was that security was paramount - and that the return of land should take place very gradually, accompanied by Palestinian moves to reduce militant violence.
Mr Netanyahu survived rather than prospered, and lost office in May 1999 after he called elections 17 months early.
Out of office, he appeared to move further to the right.
The man who signed the 1998 Wye River peace accord with the Palestinians now rejects the idea of a Palestinian state being set up in the current climate of violence.
Mr Netanyahu's comeback would have seemed unimaginable when he left office in 1999 under a cloud.
He and his wife found themselves at the centre of a theft and bribery investigation.
It was alleged among other things that the Netanyahu family kept hundreds of gifts that should have been turned over to the state.
But corruption charges filed against Mr Netanyahu, who had consistently denied any wrongdoing, were subsequently dropped.
As prime minister, Mr Netanyahu, who had said he would never compromise on the issue of land for peace, did just that under US pressure.
This alienated his supporters on the right. At the same time, he did not bend sufficiently to keep the support of those in Israel who favoured a land-for-peace deal with the Arabs.
His critics said a more seasoned politician could have avoided many of the difficulties in the first place.
US links
Mr Netanyahu's inexperience reflected his fast rise to power and his long sojourns away from the ruthless and rowdy world of Israeli politics.
When he was a teenager, his family moved to the US where he completed his education.
Back in Israel, he spent five distinguished years in the army, serving as a captain in an elite commando unit.
His brother, Jonathan, became a posthumous hero when he was killed leading a raid against a hijacked airliner in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976.
Out of the military, Mr Netanyahu returned to the US, taking courses at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 1981, he secured a post in the Israeli embassy in Washington, where his friend and future Israeli foreign minister Moshe Arens was ambassador.
Effective advocate
Overnight, Mr Netanyahu's public life was launched.
He became a familiar face on US television and an effective advocate of the Israeli cause.
Mr Netanyahu was equally successful in this respect while serving as Israel's ambassador at the United Nations.
Only in 1988, when he returned to Israel, did he become involved in domestic politics, winning a seat in the Knesset and becoming deputy foreign minister.
Since his electoral defeat in 1999, he has made a political comeback, winning back the leadership of the Likud Party in December 2005 after the departure of long-time rival Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Mr Netanyahu resigned from Mr Sharon's cabinet in August 2005, in protest at Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
He had taken up the post of finance minister after the Sharon government was elected in early 2003. He accepted the job after the prime minister agreed to give him a free hand in key economic issues.
Previously he served as foreign minister for three months under Mr Sharon.
Media savvy
Mr Netanyahu's three-year premiership was brief but dramatic.
His election in 1996, by the narrowest of margins, represented a major turning point in Israeli politics.
To his supporters, he came across as young, handsome, energetic, articulate in English and a master of how to handle the Western media. In short, a man of the age.
LIFE AND TIMES
Known as Bibi to his friends and enemies alike, he was the first Israeli leader to be born after the creation of the Jewish state.
Politically, he positioned himself to the right of previous leaders of the secular centre-right Likud Party.
The Israeli leaders who preceded him, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, had supported the return of some land to the Arabs as means of winning security, but Mr Netanyahu's view was that security was paramount - and that the return of land should take place very gradually, accompanied by Palestinian moves to reduce militant violence.
Mr Netanyahu survived rather than prospered, and lost office in May 1999 after he called elections 17 months early.
Out of office, he appeared to move further to the right.
The man who signed the 1998 Wye River peace accord with the Palestinians now rejects the idea of a Palestinian state being set up in the current climate of violence.
Mr Netanyahu's comeback would have seemed unimaginable when he left office in 1999 under a cloud.
He and his wife found themselves at the centre of a theft and bribery investigation.
It was alleged among other things that the Netanyahu family kept hundreds of gifts that should have been turned over to the state.
But corruption charges filed against Mr Netanyahu, who had consistently denied any wrongdoing, were subsequently dropped.
As prime minister, Mr Netanyahu, who had said he would never compromise on the issue of land for peace, did just that under US pressure.
This alienated his supporters on the right. At the same time, he did not bend sufficiently to keep the support of those in Israel who favoured a land-for-peace deal with the Arabs.
His critics said a more seasoned politician could have avoided many of the difficulties in the first place.
US links
Mr Netanyahu's inexperience reflected his fast rise to power and his long sojourns away from the ruthless and rowdy world of Israeli politics.
When he was a teenager, his family moved to the US where he completed his education.
Back in Israel, he spent five distinguished years in the army, serving as a captain in an elite commando unit.
His brother, Jonathan, became a posthumous hero when he was killed leading a raid against a hijacked airliner in Entebbe, Uganda, in 1976.
Out of the military, Mr Netanyahu returned to the US, taking courses at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 1981, he secured a post in the Israeli embassy in Washington, where his friend and future Israeli foreign minister Moshe Arens was ambassador.
Effective advocate
Overnight, Mr Netanyahu's public life was launched.
He became a familiar face on US television and an effective advocate of the Israeli cause.
Mr Netanyahu was equally successful in this respect while serving as Israel's ambassador at the United Nations.
Only in 1988, when he returned to Israel, did he become involved in domestic politics, winning a seat in the Knesset and becoming deputy foreign minister.
posted by Marko at 12/19/2005 04:47:00 PM
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