Benjamin Netanyahu | prime minister of Israel | Britannica.com prime minister of Israel Alternative Titles: Bibi Netanyahu, Binyamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu, Benjamin also spelled Binyamin, byname Bibi (born October 21, 1949, Tel Aviv [now Tel Aviv–Yafo], Israel), Israeli politician and diplomat, who twice served as his country’s prime minister (1996–99 and 2009–). Benjamin Netanyahu, 1996. Ya’acov Sa’ar Ya’acov/© The State of Israel Government Press Office In 1963 Netanyahu, the son of the historian Benzion Netanyahu , moved with his family to Philadelphia in the United States . After enlisting in the Israeli military in 1967, he became a soldier in the elite special operations unit Sayeret Matcal and was on the team that rescued a hijacked jet plane at the Tel Aviv airport in 1972. He later studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.B.A., 1976), taking time out to fight in the Yom Kippur War in Israel in 1973.

After his brother Jonathan died while leading the successful Entebbe raid in 1976, Benjamin founded the Jonathan Institute, which sponsored conferences on terrorism . Netanyahu held several ambassadorship positions before being elected to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) as a Likud member in 1988. He served as deputy minister of foreign affairs (1988–91) and then as a deputy minister in Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin ’s coalition cabinet (1991–92). In 1993 he easily won election as the leader of the Likud party, succeeding Yitzhak Shamir in that post. Netanyahu became noted for his opposition to the 1993 Israel-PLO peace accords and the resulting Israeli withdrawals from the West Bank and Gaza Strip . The governing Labour Party entered the 1996 elections with weakened electoral appeal following Rabin’s assassination in November 1995 and a series of suicide bombings by Muslim militants early in 1996.

Netanyahu eked out a victory margin of about 1 percent over Prime Minister Shimon Peres in the elections of May 29, 1996, the first in which the prime minister was directly elected. Netanyahu became the youngest person ever to serve as Israel’s prime minister when he formed a government on June 18. Unrest dominated Netanyahu’s first prime ministership. Soon after he entered office, relations with Syria deteriorated, and his decision in September 1996 to open an ancient tunnel near Al-Aqsa Mosque angered Palestinians and sparked intense fighting. Netanyahu then reversed his earlier opposition to the 1993 peace accords and in 1997 agreed to withdraw troops from most of the West Bank town of Hebron . Pressure from within his coalition, however, led Netanyahu to announce his intention to establish a new Jewish settlement on land claimed by the Palestinians. He also significantly lowered the amount of land that would be handed over to the Palestinians during Israel’s next phase of withdrawal from the West Bank. Violent protests, including a series of bombings, ensued.

In 1998 Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yāsir ʿArafāt participated in peace talks that resulted in the Wye Memorandum , the terms of which included placing as much as 40 percent of the West Bank under Palestinian control. The agreement was opposed by right-wing groups in Israel, and several factions in Netanyahu’s government coalition quit. In 1998 the Knesset dissolved the government, and new elections were scheduled for May 1999. Yāsir ʿArafāt (far left), leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, … Martin H. Simon/Corbis Methane Surge Worries Scientists Netanyahu’s reelection campaign was hindered by a fragmented right wing as well as by voters’ growing dislike of his inconsistent peace policies and his often abrasive style. In addition, a series of scandals had plagued his administration, including his appointment in 1997 of Roni Bar-On, a Likud party functionary, as attorney general. Allegations that Bar-On would arrange a plea bargain for a Netanyahu ally who had been charged with fraud and bribery led to a series of confidence votes in the Knesset.

With his core political support undermined, Netanyahu was easily defeated by Ehud Barak , leader of the Labour Party , in the 1999 elections. American History and Politics Netanyahu was succeeded as head of Likud in 1999 by Ariel Sharon but remained a popular figure in the party. When early elections were called in 2001, Netanyahu, who had resigned his seat in the Knesset and thus was ineligible to run for prime minister, unsuccessfully challenged Sharon for leadership of the party. In Sharon’s government, Netanyahu served as foreign minister (2002–03) and finance minister (2003–05). In 2005 Sharon left Likud and formed a centrist party, Kadima . Netanyahu was subsequently elected leader of Likud and was the party’s unsuccessful prime ministerial candidate for the 2006 Knesset elections in which Likud secured only 12 seats to Kadima’s 29. The election of February 2009 saw sizable Likud gains as Netanyahu led the party to 27 Knesset seats, finishing a single seat behind Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni .

Because of the close and inconclusive nature of the results, however, it was not immediately clear which party’s leader would be invited to form a coalition government. Through the course of coalition discussions in the days that followed, Netanyahu gathered the support of Yisrael Beiteinu (15 seats), Shas (11 seats), and a number of smaller parties, and he was asked by Israel’s president to form the government, which was sworn in on March 31, 2009. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies In June 2009 Netanyahu for the first time expressed qualified support for the principle of an independent Palestinian state, with the conditions that any future Palestinian state would have to be demilitarized and would have to formally recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Those conditions were quickly rejected by Palestinian leaders. A brief round of negotiations in 2010 broke down when a 10-month partial moratorium on building settlements in the West Bank expired and Israel refused to extend it. The peace process remained at a standstill for the rest of Netanyahu’s term.

Netanyahu also took a hard line in foreign affairs, lobbying for the international community to take stronger action against Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program, which he described as the greatest threat to Israeli security and world peace. He also expressed pessimistic views regarding a series of popular uprisings and revolutions in the Arab world in 2011 that were collectively referred to as the Arab Spring , predicting that new Arab leaders would be more hostile to Israel than their predecessors. Domestically, Netanyahu also faced growing economic discontent among the middle class and the young. In the summer of 2011 large street protests spread throughout Israel decrying social and economic inequality and calling on the government to increase its support for transportation, education, child care, housing, and other public services. Elections in January 2013 returned Netanyahu to the post of prime minister, but at the head of a coalition that appeared closer to the political centre than his previous one. A reinvigorated centre-left had emerged, led by Yesh Atid, a newly formed party that had campaigned on middle-class socioeconomic concerns.

Meanwhile, a combined list presented by Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu had won the largest number of Knesset seats in 2013 but fell short of expectations. After weeks of negotiations, Netanyahu was able to forge an agreement between the Likud–Yisrael Beitneinu bloc, Yesh Atid, Livni’s Hatnua party, and several smaller parties. Connect with Britannica Barak: The countdown to the end of Netanyahu's term has started - Inside Israel - News - Main All News Inside Israel Barak: The countdown to the end of Netanyahu's term has started Barak: The countdown to the end of Netanyahu's term has started Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister continues his verbal attacks against Netanyahu, but says he won't run for the Knesset again. Contact Editor Ben Ariel, Canada, 17/06/16 21:19 Ehud Barak Flash 90 Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday continued his verbal attacks against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

A day after calling for Netanyahu to be toppled during a speech at the Herzliya Conference, Barak clarified in an interview with Channel 2 News that he has no intentions for running for Prime Minister again, but hinted he would work to bring an end to Netanyahu’s rule in other ways. "I'm the only one in this studio who defeated Netanyahu in the elections," Barak said, in reference to the 1999 election. "I was not offered the Foreign Ministry and I would not have accepted had I been offered. Netanyahu is panicking, the countdown to the end of Netanyahu's tenure has begun.” Barak, who served as Defense Minister under Netanyahu until 2013 and was once one of the closest people to the Prime Minister, rejected the criticism over his speech at the Herzliya Conference in which he called for a public protest against Netanyahu. "A popular protest is legitimate, and all those criticizing from the right – remove the cobwebs from your eyes. I did not suggest standing on the balcony in Zion Square and holding a picture of Netanyahu in an SS uniform.

All this happened under the personal supervision of Netanyahu himself,” he charged, in what could be a hint that he considers Netanyahu responsible for some of the incitement before the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “The Likud has been hijacked. A settlers’ group signed up for the Likud primaries and put a lot of members in its Central Committee,” Barak claimed, adding that "Netanyahu has changed as a result of the Likud being abducted by the extreme right.” The situation, he continued, “began to deteriorate a year ago, when for the first time there was an all right-wing government that is leading a cunning way that endangers the future of the State of Israel.” Barak made clear that he does not intend to run for Prime Minister and said, “Running for Prime Minister or remaining silent are not the only options. I was there 15 years ago at every position, and I believe that I stood the ‘Rabin test’, which is in essence the ability to make decisions for the whole country, even if that means a brief tenure. I wish the same was true for Bibi.

I'm going to take action - not run for Prime Minister or work within any political framework, but act to change the situation.” "I'm the only in this studio who defeated Netanyahu in the elections. He has no charm, he knows how to work, but there is nothing in him that cannot be overcome. It is time to be replaced, you’ve lost it," he continued. “Netanyahu is politically talented, and that’s why there are people who have been exposed to false information for a long time; for example, that it is impossible to meet the security requirements of Israel with a two-state solution. The fact that it is impossible to talk with Abu Mazen does not mean the government should not act – we are missing an historic opportunity by not participating in an international conference. Judging by the responses of the last 24 hours we see the signs of panic, he understands that the countdown toward the end of his term has begun,” said Barak. He also rejected the claims that he spoke differently when he was part of Netanyahu’s cabinet, saying, "If you open the protocols you will find very harsh comments from me, while I was part of the government.

They heard me say very difficult things.” The Likud responded to the Channel 2 interview by saying, "Ehud Barak, who wants for the umpteenth time to return to the position of savior of the left, is a failed politician and Prime Minister who is trying to make his way back into politics. This is why he tries to stay in the public eye at all costs, including making statements that completely contradict what he said as he sat in the government. Back then he showered the Prime Minister with praise. This is not about ideology but rather about ‘seatology.’” "The same Barak who speaks about the sanctity of democracy simply cannot accept the fact that the Israeli public and even his own party showed him the way out,” added the Likud. "His call on people to get up and overthrow a government elected just a year ago after the people spoke so clearly is reminiscent of the call of the left to ‘replace the nation’. Ehud Barak and the party of the frustrated do not represent the majority of the people of Israel who are united and proud of their country.

Contrary to the incitement being uttered today for the purpose of a political campaign, Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Likud will continue to lead the State of Israel toward security, prosperity and unity. We will not bury our heads in the sand as the left chooses to do. We look at the reality with open eyes and we will continue to act with determination and responsibility for the security of Israel and its citizens.” (Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.) Affairs of State: Barak Seeking to Sell Bibi’s Peace to a Gullible U.S. | WRMEA Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, September 1999, pages 9-11 Affairs of State Barak Seeking to Sell Bibi’s Peace to a Gullible U.S. By Eugene Bird What’s going on? Prime Minister Ehud Barak has an overwhelming mandate for peace and all you get from this former general are vague promises to unite Israel.

He has succeeded in his first two months after the election in acting more like a musical chairs game host than the leader of the most powerful country in the Middle East, supposedly dedicated to finally making peace with its neighbors. How different will Barak be from Binyamin Netanyahu? Well, not that different, even though he will negotiate and meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Barak is, of course, an utterly different personality, a small guy in contrast to the towering Netanyahu, with a natural credibility, in contrast to the nimble-tongued con man. Cool Leader, Unruly Coalition Barak tried for a universal government, bringing all three major parties into a coalition headed by the Labor Party’s own mini-coalition, One Israel. He succeeded in putting together a coalition of overwhelming majority in the Knesset, but full of dissatisfied politicians who had been shunted off into ministries they did not want and were not qualified to run. He then began a series of visits to Israel’s past partners in peace, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. And his message became quite confusing.

Arab-bashing Washington Post columnist Jim Hoagland called it “fog,” but then went on to glorify such a policy in the face of Arab intransigence and double-dealing and prejudice. Intransigence? Hardly, for the message after May 17 came through loud and clear from circles around Arafat, Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud: Thank the lord for the stunning victory of Barak; now we can get on with making peace with Israel. A Government of Generals There was no response of substance, however, from the new Israeli team of generals, and when it comes to making peace, one can almost ignore the peaceniks in Barak’s cabinet. He is excluding them all from peacemaking, so why should we take former Labor Party heavyweights Shimon Peres or Yossi Beilan seriously? Peace Now is in the same situation, with its leader, Yossi Sarid, in the cabinet but not the inner circle.

In interviews Barak has shown contempt for the soft left wing of Israeli politics, despite the fact that its leaders worked hard for his election and can claim, justly, that he is there because of their efforts. But Barak seems more comfortable at times with hard-liners who opposed him than with peaceniks who called on their followers to support him. Further, Barak has given Zalman Shoval, who is sometimes referred to as the elder twin of Bibi Netanyahu, at least another four months as ambassador in Washington, for no known reason. Leave Us Alone When Barak flew to Cairo he took with him only his close military aides, leaving behind his foreign minister, David Levy. What role others may have in determining Israel’s stands in permanent status questions is not yet apparent. What is on display is Barak’s decree that the U.S. step back and limit its involvement to funding Israel, but not in negotiations, particularly with the Palestinians. One of his aides is quoted as saying that “we know how to negotiate with Arafat.” They certainly do. On his visit to Washington Barak stood on the White House lawn and indicated that any agreement signed by Israel will be carried out.

But at the same time he suggested skipping implementing the Wye River agreement signed last October by Israel before moving on to permanent status negotiations. There is room enough in his remarks to never implement the minuscule withdrawals proposed at Wye River, leaving the Palestinians in full control of less than 3 percent of the original mandate of Palestine. Yet Barak claimed at the same time that nothing will be done without full agreement by Arafat, although the Palestinian leader already had turned down any permanent status negotiations until all aspects of the Wye River agreement are implemented. Clearly while Arafat seeks to stand fast in the face of Israeli and American pressures on him, the game of using time to settle more Jewish Israelis on Arab lands will go on. A Score Card for Peace To evaluate where the prime minister is really coming from, one can lay down the following thumbnail guide to future negotiations: With Syria, it will be a matter of what kind of maps are presented at the beginning, if any. Barak is known to be studying and is being briefed about Golan geography and water resources. A key factor will be what to do about the Mt. Hermon observation posts, dominating the communications of Syria. Clearly, Damascus cannot give ground on that issue.

With Lebanon, once the Syrian negotiations are far enough advanced to guarantee success, the issue is not just withdrawal but also the issue of what happens to the 350,000 Palestinian refugees. Barak will not take them back and probably would not permit Arafat to do so either. Compensation? The amount needed would be staggering to the donor community, perhaps as much as $100 billion over 10 years. No Israeli leader has ever suggested that Israel would make more than a token contribution to such compensation. With the Palestinians, Barak has laid down red lines that would certainly leave any Palestinian mini-state highly dependent on Israel. If he implements the Wye River agreement, besides withdrawal from another 11 percent of the West Bank, he would need to create two safe passages across Israel from Gaza and permit construction of a port in Gaza and the opening of an air freight terminal at the Gaza International Airport. But these are the kinds of actions generals in occupation of territory would find most difficult to implement. On settlements, slowing if not halting the expansion of settlements would be a beginning, but it is not likely to happen, even within the East Jerusalem boundaries.

Regarding house demolitions, torture and release of prisoners, Barak has said not a word. Final boundaries are so far down his agenda as to be ignored, even in the speculative press of Israel. Access to Jerusalem for Palestinians is one of the easiest decisions Barak could take, but the topic does not even seem to be under discussion. Barak may ignore the previous government’s order to close Orient House, but he seems unlikely to cancel it entirely. No American Referees The Clinton administration already has agreed to step back from judging how well the Palestine Authority is carrying out security arrangements. Barak’s order to the U.S. to back off is consistent with Israel’s previous history. Israel has never wanted either the United Nations or the Americans to be involved in judging anything concerning armistice or peace arrangements, because all Israeli prime ministers have known objective evaluations would not provide Israel the opportunity it needs to expand across lines laid down in agreements. U.N. observer reports are never released, but the more than 50 years of massive U.N. truce and peace agreement observations are known from occasional leaks to be devastating to the Israeli case.

Barak is already being evaluated by political observers in Israel as trusting only his military instincts and defining the security of Israel from a purely military standpoint. Knesset member Yael Dayan, daughter of Israel’s late politician and general, Moshe Dayan, said after the election that the dream of a greater Israel was dead, but with Barak that dream is modified to mean that Israel must dominate the Middle East to survive. Barak made the comparison in one interview in Israel between the power of the Syrian military and that of the Palestinians, suggesting that Syria had to be taken more seriously. Any threat to the security of Israel from the Palestinians was “ludicrous” in his eyes. Is Barak so narrow in vision as not to see that the meaning of the intifada and of any reading of the demographic map would indicate that the balance of military forces is not the issue? It is the simple fact that there are more Palestinians than Israelis in the world, and half of the Palestinians still live in humbled circumstances within 30 minutes of Tel Aviv. Contradictions Barak wants separation from the Palestinians, but wants to maintain all the settlements. He wants peace with the Palestinians but wants to hold Jerusalem exclusively under Israeli sovereignty.

Is there no one in Israel or the United States to tell him it will not work? Barak also wants two things from America now: Full-scale involvement on the Syrian track and as few meetings between Arafat and Clinton as possible. And, of course, he wants the additional $1.2 billion in U.S. aid promised Israel for implementation of the Wye River agreement without implementing further the Israeli territorial withdrawals at the heart of the agreement. This is General Chutzpah, seeking a Peace of the Cowed. He could, of course, reverse course during the negotiations. But it would be difficult to negotiate a compromise with either Syria or the Palestinians that could combine his vaguely expressed yearning for peace and his firmly expressed demand for absolute security. Warn the Terrorists: No Time Outs? If, against all odds, there were another major blow-up on the Lebanese front or a successful bombing inside Israel, would Barak simply cut off all negotiations and call back the Americans? Both scenarios are possible during the next year and there seems neither an American plan nor an Israeli plan to prevent a breakdown. Instead it looks like both would be all too happy to blame the failure that presently seems inevitable on Palestinian “terrorism” rather than Israeli intransigence.

If Bill Clinton is serious about preserving the peace process, which was alive and well when it was bequeathed to him by President George Bush, it would make sense to announce that nothing, absolutely nothing, will stop the negotiations short of active aggression by one partner to the peace process against the other. That would make terrorism and cross-border incidents irrelevant and undercut those on both sides who are plotting such incidents. Ehud Barak stands at a hinge moment in Middle East history. He could so easily turn his domestic political strength, ephemeral though it may be, into a real peace of the intelligent brave by recognizing that he holds the keys to peace with both the Palestinians and with Syria and Lebanon. Or he could continue to turn like a weathervane, first one direction and then another, shouting peace while making preparations for carrying on the occupation of Palestinian and Syrian lands in the name of military security. Instead of welcoming American and even international involvement and taking Israel into the 21st century as a fully responsible member of the international community, Prime Minister Barak so far is playing the same old game. He seems to be ignoring that there is an absolute need for justice under law for the Palestinians and this is just as important as is security for Israel.

In fact, the two are the same. A General Peace...or a Peace of the Generals? “Why do you think Ehud Barak has stayed so long in Washington and New York? This seems like the longest official visit in history,” a Gulf television news person asked in the middle of our interview on the sixth day of the visit by the newly elected Israeli minister. I was tempted to reply, “The beds at Blair House are very comfortable and the living is good,” then thought better of it and said that there was a lot for U.S. officials to discuss with him after three years of dealing with his intransigent predecessor, Binyamin Netanyahu. However, three questions should have been asked at the final presidential press conference held in the Old Executive Office Building: When is Israel going to end demolition of Palestinian homes being built on their own Arab land while Jewish settlements are allowed “natural growth” on Arab land? When will Israel (and, to be fair, the Palestinian Authority) end torture of young Palestinian men in attempts to get them to confess to crimes they probably did not commit, and did President Bill Clinton raise the related question with the prime minister concerning detention and torture of American citizens of Palestinian ancestry?

Finally, Mr. Prime Minister, when are you going to invite Yasser Arafat to speak to the Knesset and accompany him to the Old City, where you both can pray at your respective holy places as a symbol of your New Age in Israeli-Palestinian relations? Helen Thomas, veteran UPI correspondent and Arab-American dean of the White House press corps, asked a closely related question: “Mr. Prime Minister, there is an expression that if you walk a mile in someone’s moccasins, then you know how they really feel. If you were walking in a Palestinian’s shoes, how would you feel about occupation, annexation and incarceration for months, for years, without a charge, without a trial?” Barak answered, “I was elected prime minister of the state of Israel. I am fully focused on the future and security of Israelis. I am aware in the same way that a person cannot choose his parents, a nation cannot choose its neighbors. They are there. They are Palestinians. We respect them. We want to build a peace with them that will put an end to the conflict, with all the suffering. Sufferings that have been on both sides of this conflict.

I believe focusing on how to solve the problems in the future is a more, may I say, productive way to consume our time than dealing with analyzing past events or their interpretation.” Thomas rejoined, “Well, they aren’t past, they are very current.” “We are working on creating a peace that will create a different environment in the Middle East,” Barak said. That same day, in Jerusalem, newly appointed Israeli Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin, the Labor Party’s foremost dove, was urging that the 50-year-old Emergency Regulations, which make possible much of the harassment, torture and use of secret evidence before special courts that is used against Palestinians and Palestinian Americans, should be eliminated. But Beilin, who wanted in the worst way to be foreign minister in the Barak cabinet and who was a key personality in the peace talks at Oslo and afterward until Netanyahu arrived, is powerless to remove the Emergency Regulations, and probably lacks much influence with Barak. It is apparent from the people he brought with him that the peace process will be an arena for the ex-generals. Negotiations will not only be tough, they will be acrimonious and periodically stall out.

On Syria, there is not the slightest hint in the Washington talks of what message President Clinton will send to President Assad. U.S. Jewish weeklies speculate that Israel will ask for U.S. troops to be stationed on the Syrian territory from which Israeli forces withdraw. Barak sought and got substantial rewards, besides a Camp David weekend for himself, his wife, and the Clintons. He got new U.S. jet fighters, to be paid for out of U.S. military aid to Israel, a promise of early delivery of another $1.2 billion in aid for the still unimplemented Wye accord, and an Israeli astronaut in space. The American side got very little in return. No confidence-building measures such as ending house demolitions and torture. Nothing on Jerusalem, in public at least. And, contrary to reports in the U.S. media, Israeli press sources say he actually asked for a higher level of peace process involvement by the Americans, more political, and let the “leaders not the clerks” propose solutions during negotiations, a direct slap at Ambassador Dennis Ross. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is also asking for a change in the American peace team.

He wants a successful negotiator from the Kosovo-Serbian problem to be assigned to work intensively on the Israel-Palestinian track. But Barak wants less working level and detailed involvement by the Americans, confining the negotiations to higher level leaders on all sides. During the Barak visit, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright first tentatively scheduled an immediate trip to the region, her first since last December, and then postponed it to August. Now the question is, how soon will President Yasser Arafat and his wife, Suha, be given an official if not a state visit? How soon will Blair House be used to put an American imprimatur on a free Palestinian state? Blair House was used during the ending of the colonial period, notably when rebel leader and future Zaire President Patrice Lumumba, over strong objections from the Belgians, was invited by President Eisenhower to use the facility as an indication that the U.S. wanted to recognize an independent Congo. A Belgian diplomat protested to the Department of State.

“You are inviting that man to sleep in the same bed that King Baudouin slept in only a few months ago?” Replied then-Belgian desk officer Dan Arzack, “We change the sheets.” By any standards, Ehud Barak and his wife, Nava, were given all the pomp and circumstance and southern hospitality for which Clinton and his wife are famous. But the substance and bottom line seems to be: the generals now take over the three remaining tracks and do not expect a miracle in the roughly 15 months remaining before Clinton becomes a lame duck president. Eugene Bird, a retired foreign service officer, is president of the Council for the National Interest and diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. SIDEBAR David Bonior Targeted by GOP’s Jewish Supporters Congressman David Bonior, second-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives and House Whip, again is being targeted by the National Council for Jewish Republicans. Three million dollars is being raised to back a formidable Republican opponent, Candice Miller, Michigan secretary of state.

Bonior has been strongly opposed to the secret evidence clause in the Anti-Terror act of 1995, which has been used against Muslims and Arab Americans by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and which may well be unconstitutional. He is one of the sponsors of a bill that would amend the 1995 act and eliminate authority to keep evidence secret. He also has been seeking the release of Arab Americans or Muslims being held without trial on unspecified charges, and he has fought to limit the use of “profiling” of air passengers. Bonior is seeking funds from all communities, traveling across the country to try and come up with a respectable counter to the effort to unseat him. Recently, in Falls Church, Virginia, a group invited to a fund-raiser for Bonior’s campaign by Abdul Rahman Alamoudi of the American Muslim Foundation raised a significant amount in one evening. Similar efforts are going forward elsewhere. Political strategists say that this attempt to unseat Bonior is sophisticated and well- funded and Bonior is behind in Republican-sponsored polls. He comes from a relatively wealthy Detroit area district with a majority of Republicans, but no one is betting against the veteran campaigner.—E.B.

Keywords 1999 On May 19, Labor Party leader Ehud Barak is elected - MEGC - 3001 View Full Document This is the end of the preview. Sign up to access the rest of the document. Unformatted text preview: 1999 On May 19, Labor Party leader Ehud Barak is elected Prime Minister of Israel, defeating Likud party incumbent Binyamin Netanyahu. Barak campaigned on a platform of bringing an end to all of Israels conflicts with all its neighbors, Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinians. On September 5, 1999, Israel and the Palestinian Authority sign a revised deal based on the stalled Wye River accord, aimed at reviving the Middle East peace process. 2000 In February a summit between Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat breaks up over a disagreement on a promised Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank under the revised Wye accord. Final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are deadlocked as the deadline for a framework agreement (basic guidelines for an eventual final agreement for peace between Palestinians and Israelis) is missed.

In March, Israel hands over part of the West Bank to Palestinians as part of a land transfer agreed to at the Wye River conferences of 1998. The land amounted to 6.1% of the total of the West Bank. On May 23, 2000, Israel unilaterally withdraws from the area of Lebanon it was occupying since 1982. And in July, a peace summit between Palestinian and Israeli leaders and negotiators at Camp David ends deadlocked over competing claims to Jerusalem and the issue of Palestinians refugees. Palestinians and Israelis accused each other of not being willing to make the compromises necessary for an agreement. 2000 An Israeli Perspective Israel believes its offer of handing over 95% of the West Bank and Gaza to Palestinians for the formation of a Palestinian state to be generous. Israel views its condition of maintaining control over settlements and security zones in the West Bank to be not only reasonable but also necessary for its national security. A Palestinian Perspective Palestinians believe they should not have to accept less than 100% of the West Bank and Gaza because the total of both territories only comprises 22% of what was originally Palestine.

Palestinians also view the Israeli proposal as unacceptable because it would divide the Palestinian state into disconnected regions; a situation that would not free them from Israeli occupation and would not make for a truly independent state. 2 nd Intifada In this atmosphere of stalemate and recrimination, on September 28, 2000 Ariel Sharon, the leader of Likud (Israels right-wing political party), visits the Temple Mount, known to Muslims as the Haram al- Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) with 1,000 Israeli soldiers. A Palestinian protest of Sharons visit turns violent and sparks demonstrations and violence that have continued until today. 2 nd intifada (al-Aqsa) Sharon and his supporters state that the Palestinian violence was planned before his visit to the Temple Mount and that the Palestinians are only using his visit to the Mount as an excuse for their attacks....

NaguibMahfouz, MidaqAlley(1947) YousefChahin, Cairo(LeCaire),Contemporary Egypt Egypt Midaq Alley Cairo Benjamin Netanyahu - Wikispooks Benjamin Netanyahu 18 December 2012 - 11 November 2013 Preceded by 18 June 1996 - 6 July 1999 Preceded by 6 January 1998 - 13 October 1998 Succeeded by Ariel Sharon Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is the 9th Prime Minister of Israel , assuming office on 31 March 2009. [1] [2] On 12 September 2002, Netanyahu testified under oath (as a private citizen) before the U.S. House of Representatives ' "Committee on Oversight and Government Reform" about the nuclear threat posed by the Iraqi régime.

[3] Six months later the United States , Britain and the coalition of the willing launched the Iraq War on the (false) premise that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and that Saddam Hussein 's government posed an imminent threat to the United States and its coalition allies. [4] Welcoming the election of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States , Netanyahu said in a statement: “ President-elect Trump is a true friend of the state of Israel. We will work together to advance the security, stability and peace in our region. The strong connection between the United States and Israel is based on shared values, shared interests and a shared destiny." [5] Contents 11 References Soldier Binyamin Netanyahu joined the Israel Defence Forces shortly after the Six-Day War in 1967 and became a team leader in the Sayeret Matkal special forces unit. He took part in many missions, including Operation Inferno (1968), Operation Gift (1968) and Operation Isotope (1972), during which he was shot in the shoulder.

He fought on the front lines in the War of Attrition and the Yom Kippur War in 1973, taking part in special forces raids along the Suez Canal, and then leading a commando assault deep into Syrian territory. [6] [7] He achieved the rank of captain before being discharged. Graduate After graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , he was recruited as an economic consultant for the Boston Consulting Group. He returned to Israel in 1978 to found the Yonatan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute, named after his brother Yonatan, who died leading the July 1976 Operation Entebbe. Diplomat Binyamin Netanyahu served as the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. Politician Netanyahu became the leader of the Likud party in 1993 and won the 1996 elections, becoming Israel's youngest ever Prime Minister, serving his first term from June 1996 to July 1999. He moved from the political arena to the private sector after being defeated in the 1999 election for prime minister by Ehud Barak .

Netanyahu returned to politics in 2002 as Foreign Affairs Minister (2002–03) and Finance Minister (2003–05) in Ariel Sharon 's governments, but he departed the government over disagreements regarding the Gaza disengagement plan. As Minister of Finance, Netanyahu engaged in a major reform of the Israeli economy, which was credited by commentators as having significantly improved Israel's subsequent economic performance. [8] He retook the Likud leadership in December 2005, after Sharon left to form a new party, Kadima . In December 2006, Netanyahu became the official Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset and Chairman of Likud. Following the 2009 parliamentary election, in which Likud placed second and right-wing parties won a majority, [9] Netanyahu formed a coalition government. [10] [11] After the victory in the 2013 elections, he became the second person to be elected to the position of Prime Minister for a third term, after Israel's founder David Ben-Gurion . In March 2015, Netanyahu was elected to his fourth term as prime minister.

[12] [13] [14] Arrest petition Following its launch in August 2015, a petition to the UK Government and Parliament was signed by over 100,000 people calling for Benjamin Netanyahu to be arrested for war crimes when he holds talks in London this September: "Under international law Netanyahu should be arrested for war crimes upon arrival in the UK for the massacre of over 2000 civilians in 2014." [15] None of the commercially-controlled media covered the story. Once the petition reached 10,000 signers, the UK Government was obliged to respond, saying: "Under UK and international law, certain holders of high-ranking office in a State, including Heads of State, Heads of Government and Ministers for Foreign Affairs are entitled to immunity, which includes inviolability and complete immunity from criminal jurisdiction." [16] On 5 September 2015, The Times of Israel reported: A petition on the British Parliament’s website urging the UK to arrest Netanyahu for “war crimes” has received more than 100,000 signatures, making the matter eligible for debate by lawmakers. The campaign reached its target on Saturday morning.

Netanyahu will visit London this coming week for talks with British counterpart David Cameron . The two prime ministers are expected to discuss regional issues, with an emphasis on the Iran nuclear deal reached between world powers and Tehran on July 14. British officials told Channel 2 that Cameron plans to discuss the situation in the Gaza Strip, stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and the Syrian civil war. [17] The Petitions Committee met on 8 September 2015 and reported: "Because the Government said in its response that the request made by the petition was something that it was not able to do under UK and international law, the Committee agreed that it would not take any further action on the petition. It is still open to MPs who want a debate on this issue to find other opportunities, such as an application to the Backbench Business Committee ." On 9 September 2015, hundreds of protesters blocked the road outside 10 Downing Street as David Cameron met his "close friend" Benjamin Netanyahu. They included many Jews showing solidarity with the Palestinian people, and who also objected to Netanyahu's belief that Israel represents all of world Jewry.

[18] Books and articles Books A Durable Peace: Israel and Its Place Among the Nations (Warner Books, 2000) ISBN 0-446-52306-2 Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic And International Terrorism (Diane Pub Co, 1995) ISBN 0-7881-5514-8 A Place Among the Nations (Bantam, 1993) ISBN 0-553-08974-9 Terrorism: How the West Can Win (Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1986) ISBN 0-374-27342-1 Articles BBC News - Profile: Benjamin Netanyahu Profile: Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu has a talent for political survival Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the most right-wing and controversial leaders in Israel's history. He became premier in March 2009 for the second time, after becoming the youngest person to hold the post in 1996. Three years later he lost office after defeat at the polls to Labour.

He subsequently lost the Likud leadership to Ariel Sharon, though he served as a sometimes rancorous member of Mr Sharon's cabinet. His chance came again in 2005, when Mr Sharon - just before a massive stroke that has left him in a coma - split from Likud and set up his new centrist party, Kadima. Mr Netanyahu won the Likud leadership and became a trenchant critic of the Kadima-led coalition and Mr Sharon's successor, Ehud Olmert. KEY CAMPAIGN POLICIES Iran: considers it Israel's greatest threat and wants to thwart any nuclear weapons plan Hamas: has called for its removal from Gaza, and an end to the threat of rockets fired into Israel. Peace process: has pledged to work with the US, and wants to pursue a 'workable peace' with Palestinians but not the creation of a Palestinian state Mr Olmert became engulfed in a mire of sleaze allegations and was unable to win back credibility or popularity after the disastrous 2006 Lebanon war. The Israeli military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, launched in late December 2008, slightly narrowed Mr Netanyahu's lead over his rivals in the 10 February election.

Although Kadima narrowly defeated Likud in the poll, it was Mr Netanyahu who President Shimon Peres asked to form the next government. Land for peace Mr Netanyahu's three-year premiership was brief but dramatic. His election, by the narrowest of margins, represented a major turning point in Israeli politics. 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. Advertisement A look at the career of Benjamin Netanyahu To his supporters, he came across as young, handsome, energetic, articulate in English and a master of how to handle the Western media. But as prime minister, Mr Netanyahu, who had said he would not give up land controlled by Israel for peace, did just that under US pressure. Despite his antagonism towards a peace process that might lead to the creation of a Palestinian state he handed over 80% of Hebron in January 1997 to Palestinian Authority control and signed the Wye River Memorandum on 23 October 1998 outlining further withdrawals from the West Bank. 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. Mr Netanyahu survived rather than prospered, and lost office in May 1999 after he called elections 17 months early. Life in US Mr Netanyahu's inexperience reflected his fast rise to power and his long sojourns away from the ruthless and rowdy world of Israeli politics. LIFE AND TIMES 2002-3: Serves as foreign minister Feb 2003 to Aug 2005: Serves as finance minister, resigning over withdrawal from Gaza December 2005: Wins back the leadership of the Likud party March 2009: Becomes prime minister 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. 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.

BBC News | Monitoring | Barak's victory speech Tuesday, May 18, 1999 Published at 03:01 GMT 04:01 UK Barak's victory speech Ehud Barak thanks his supporters Extracts from victory speech of Ehud Barak, Israel's prime minister-designate and leader of One Israel, at the Dan Hotel in Tel Aviv Thanks to all of you, we want to start, and I ask you to be quiet for a few minutes. I want to say a few words, before I continue from here to Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Ladies and gentlemen citizens of the State of Israel, dear sisters and brothers wherever you may be, good evening to you. First of all, I want to extend from here a supporting hand to the residents of the north who at this moment, as we celebrate here, are in the bomb shelters End to Lebanon conflict May it come about that within a year we will be able to put an end to the conflict in Lebanon. One of the prayers said by the cantor on Yom Kippur starts with the words: I stand before you humbly.

With these words I chose to start here tonight and tell you: I stand humbly before you tonight, excited and moved, to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Praise for Netanyahu An hour ago, I spoke with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and thanked him. (boos from the audience). No, we will not boo an incumbent prime minister of Israel. A short time ago, I spoke with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and thanked him for his service to the State of Israel. I ask you to join me in wishing him success wherever he may go. 'Prime Minister for all' I also respect the hundreds of thousands who fulfilled their civic and democratic duty and decided not to vote for me, but from this moment on we are all together, we are one nation. I intend to be the prime minister of all. Whatever the differences between us may be, we are brothers. People, we are brothers, and as Memad's motto says, brothers go together. All Jews are responsible for each other.

Tonight we extend a courageous hand to the secular and the religious, to the ultra-Orthodox and the residents of the settlements, to Israelis of Middle Eastern origin and to Israelis of Ashkenazi extraction, to the immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union, to the Arabs, the Druze, the Circassians, the Bedouin - everybody, everybody, everybody is part of the Israeli people. I want to send many thanks to some 2 million citizens who voted for me for prime minister. Tribute to Rabin I would like to mention in particular that one special person who had a unique role in our reaching this moment, somebody who was my commander and guide and the person who led me into politics, our teacher and guiding light: Yitzhak Rabin. I know that if Yitzhak is looking down at us from heaven, he is proud of us today, just as we are proud of him, and he knows that together we will fulfill his heritage. Among us on this podium tonight is Le'a, who accompanied him all along the way, and Shim'on (Peres), who together with him was the architect of the peace agreements.

'Blood, sweat and tears' In one of his famous speeches in the midst of World War II, Churchill promised his people blood, sweat, and tears. We are here in order to try to avoid the blood and tears, but it will undoubtedly cost us a lot of sweat, a lot of hard work, and a lot of joint work by all of us. In order to bring security and peace to the State of Israel, it is important that we know first how to bring peace among ourselves and peace between ourselves, and I intend to do that. I wore a uniform for many years. Together with my friends, I have seen terrible scenes. We have lost many friends throughout the years. We know that it is the duty of our generation, which fought Israel's wars, to do what is possible to strengthen the state's security by advancing it toward peace agreements, which will be made with responsibility for security, and wisdom, and political thought. In the coming months and definitely in the coming years, we will be facing some of the most difficult and fateful decisions in the history of the State of Israel. In a joint effort by us all - I tell you that we will not stop making difficult decisions - we will lead to security and to peace.

It is our hope that our actions will contain the spirit of the prayer of the Jewish people throughout the generations: God shall bestow glory on his people, God shall bless his people with peace. Extracts from speech to rally of supporters on Rabin Square: We are meeting here, in this place of memory and hope, to start out on our expedition to attain unity, peace, security, and prosperity for the Israeli people. I came here, to Rabin Square, to the place where our hearts broke when a huge rock blocked the gate we were about to cross into a new era. I came here to pledge before you, citizens of Israel, and before you, my friend and commander, Yitzhak Rabin, that indeed this is the dawn of a new day. 'Victory for peace' This is not only the victory of a candidate but the victory of a path. This is not only the victory of One Israel as a movement but of One Israel as an idea. One united Israel is the aspiration of all of us, and ahead of us lies a lot of work to attain it in the future.

This victory belongs to the entire Israeli people, to heads of family who work hard for a living; too many people, too many people who don't work at all; citizens who know that today's education is the economy of tomorrow; families whose families are fighting in Lebanon; new immigrants who fill us with pride; Sephardim and Ashkenazim; secular, traditionalist, and ultra-Orthodox; Jews and Arabs. From each one of you I heard the call for change. We are not afraid of anything. I heard the voices at my feet here, and nevertheless I tell you all: The first and most important hope of all of us is the hope for unity. Appeal to end divisions I tell you here that the time has come to end divisions; the time has come to make peace among ourselves. Whether we are traditionalists or secularists, ultra-Orthodox or religious, we must not be enemies to each other. Our scriptures say: The temple was destroyed because of gratuitous hatred and only because of gratuitous love will it be rebuilt. We are brothers, and brothers walk together. I know that this victory was not possible without your support, but it was also not possible without the support of many Likud supporters.

I appreciate that, and I undertake to be the prime minister of all. I undertake that I will always consider the good of the country. That which unites us is greater than that which divides us. The people of Israel wanted unity. The mission will not be completed overnight, but I tell you all: This unity starts here and now. The second hope, which has not been fulfilled in its entirety since the establishment of the State of Israel, is the ancient hope which has been renewed: that we should not know war anymore. I tell you that the time for peace has come - not peace through weakness, but peace through might and a sense of security; not peace at the expense of security but peace that will bring security. We will move quickly toward separation from the Palestinians within four security red lines: a united Jerusalem under our sovereignty as the capital of Israel for eternity, period; under no conditions will we return to the 1967 borders; no foreign army west of the Jordan River; and most of the settlers in Judaea and Samaria will be in settlement blocs under our sovereignty. As I undertook, any permanent arrangement will be put to a national referendum. In the long run, you, the people of Israel, will decide.

BBC Monitoring ( ), based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.

Question: Ehud Barak succeeded Binyamin Netanyahu as prime minister of which country in 1999?
Answer: Israel