Military record

Profile: Benjamin Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held two contrasting periods in office - the first characterised by political instability and limited territorial withdrawals; the second by a remarkably enduring coalition and lack of progress in the peace process.

Telegenic and media savvy, the Likud party leader was elected premier in March 2009 for the second time, after becoming, in 1996, the youngest person to hold the post.

Right-wing and nationalistic, Mr Netanyahu's second coalition was dominated by like-minded and religious parties.

Though it was relatively popular among Israelis, Mr Netanyahu's government was criticised by some in the international community for not renewing a partial freeze on Jewish settlement-building and avoid a collapse in peace talks with the Palestinians in late 2010.

Mr Netanyahu has pursued a tough line towards peace negotiations, accepting the principle of a two-state solution but insisting the Palestinians accept Israel as a "Jewish state" and make reciprocal concessions. He has however urged a resumption of negotiations without preconditions, rejecting Palestinian demands for a complete halt to settlement activity first.

He has also taken a hard line towards Iran, repeatedly warning of the danger to the international community of allowing it to develop nuclear weapons. Mr Netanyahu has called for much tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime and indicated his willingness to use force to stop Iran's nuclear programme if all else fails.

Political differences with US President Barack Obama have led to a difficult working relationship between the two men.

In November 2011 Mr Obama was overheard complaining to then French President Nicolas Sarkozy about having to "work with him [Netanyahu] every day", while in an apparent rebuke of the US last year Mr Netanyahu said some countries did not have a "moral right" to tell Israel what to do about Iran.

A shrewd political operator, Mr Netanyahu called early elections in January 2013, hoping to capitalise on high approval ratings in polls and his record for being tough on security issues.

Weeks after parliament was dissolved Mr Netanyahu ordered a major offensive against militants in Gaza after an escalation of rocket-fire into Israel. He called off the operation without sending in ground troops, with all the risks that would entail, and the three-week operation was widely regarded in Israel as a success.

Military record

Mr Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv in 1949. In 1963 his family moved to the US when his father Benzion, the historian and Zionist activist, was offered an academic post there.

Mr Netanyahu then returned to Israel, where he spent five distinguished years in the army, serving as a captain in an elite commando unit, the Sayeret Matkal. He took part in a raid on Beirut's airport in 1968 and fought in the 1973 Middle East war.

After his military service ended, Mr Netanyahu returned to the US, where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

In 1976, Mr Netanyahu's brother, Jonathan, was killed leading a raid to rescue hostages from a hijacked airliner in Entebbe, Uganda.

Mr Netanyahu set up an anti-terrorism institute in his brother's name and organised a series of memorial conferences which attracted much attention, including from the then Israeli ambassador to the US and future foreign minister, Moshe Arens, who made him deputy chief of mission in Washington in 1982.

Overnight, Mr Netanyahu's public life was launched. An impeccable and eloquent English speaker, he became a familiar face on US television and an effective advocate of the Israeli cause.

Mr Netanyahu was then appointed Israel's permanent representative at the UN in New York in 1984.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14