Benjamin Netanyahu

{{Audio|He-Benjamin_Netanyahu.ogg|Benjamin Netanyahu}} (Hebrew: בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ (without niqqudot: ?????? ??????), transliteration: Binyamin Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi) (born October 21, 1949, Tel Aviv) was the 9th Prime Minister of Israel.

Family and personal background

Benjamin was born to Zila and Ben-Zion Netanyahu. His father, Ben-Zion, is a professor of Jewish history and a former editor of the Hebrew Encyclopedia. His elder brother Yonatan, who was killed during Operation Entebbe in 1976, is considered an Israeli war hero. His younger brother Iddo is a radiologist and writer. All three brothers served in the Sayeret Matkal.

Related Topics:
Professor - Jewish history - Hebrew Encyclopedia - Yonatan - Operation Entebbe - War hero - Iddo - Sayeret Matkal

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Netanyahu was married twice before, and has a daughter, Noa, from his first marriage. He is married to his third wife, Sarah, and has two children. He grew up in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Cheltenham High School. He holds a BS in Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a MS in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management, and has studied political science at Harvard and MIT.

Related Topics:
Cheltenham - Pennsylvania - Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management - Harvard

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After a brief career in business Netanyahu was appointed Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington in 1982. Subsequently, he became Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, serving from 1984-1988. He was elected to the Knesset in 1988 and served as a Deputy Minister in the governments led by Yitzhak Shamir from 1988-1992. Shamir retired from politics shortly after Likud's defeat in the 1992 elections. In 1993 for the first time the party held a primary to select its leader and Netanyahu was victorious, defeated Ze'ev "Benny" Begin, the son of the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin and veteran politician David Levy. (Ariel Sharon initially sought the Likud leadership as well, but quickly withdrew when it was evident that he was attracting minimal support.)

Related Topics:
United Nations - Knesset - Yitzhak Shamir - Menachem Begin - David Levy - Ariel Sharon

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