Benj amin Ne t anyahu(born 21 October 1949) isthe ninth and current PrimeMinister of Israel, servingsince March 2009. Netanyahualso serves as the currentChairman of the Likud Party,as a Knesset member, as theHealth Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and asthe Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.
Netanyahu is the first and only Israeli prime minister born after theState of Israel’s foundation. Netanyahu joined the Israeli Defense Forcesin 1967 where he served as a commander in the elite Sayeret Matkalcommando unit, taking part in many missions including the hostages rescuemission from the hijacked Sabena Flight 572 in 1972 (coincidentallyunder the leadership of Ehud Barak). He fought in the Yom Kippur Warin 1973 and achieved the rank of captain before being discharged.
Netanyahu served as the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations from1984 to 1988, member of the Likud Party, and was Prime Minister fromJune 1996 to July 1999. Netanyahu was Foreign Minister (2002–2003)and Finance Minister (2003—August 2005) in Ariel Sharon’sgovernments, but he departedover disagreements regardingthe Gaza Disengagement Plan.
He retook the Likud leadershipon 20 December 2005. Inthe 2006 election, Likud didpoorly, winning twelve seats. In December 2006, Netanyahu became theofficial Opposition Leader in the Knesset and Chairman of the Likud Party.
In August 2007, he retained the Likud leadership by beating Moshe Feiglinin party elections. Following the 10 February 2009 parliamentary election,in which Likud placed second and right-wing parties won a majority,Netanyahu formed a coalition government. He is the brother of IsraeliSpecial Forces commander Yonatan Netanyahu, who died during a hostagerescue mission, and Iddo Netanyahu.
September 11 attacksIn a speech at Bar-Ilan University, Netanyahu said about the September11 attacks: “We are benefiting from one thing, and that is the attack on theTwin Towers and Pentagon, and the American struggle in Iraq,” and that theattacks — “swung American public opinion in our favor.”
Personal lifeNetanyahu’s first marriage was to Dr. Miriam Weizmann, duringwhich the couple had a daughter named Noa. His second marriage (1981–1984) was to Fleur Cates, a British citizen who converted to Judaismespecially for marriage. In 1991 Netanyahu married his third wife, SaraBen-Artzi, a psychology major working as a flight attendant, whom he metwhile traveling on an El Al flight from New York to Israel. He and Sarahave two sons, Yair and Avner.
Netanyahu became a grandfather on 1 October 2009, when hisdaughter Noa Netanyahu-Roth (married to Daniel Roth) gave birth to a boy,Shmuel.
