161 Facts About Netanyahu

1.

Netanyahu is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of Likud – National Liberal Movement.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,007
2.

Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime minister in the country's history, having served for 15 years.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,008
3.

Netanyahu was the first prime minister to be born in Israel after its Declaration of Independence.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,009
4.

Netanyahu returned to Israel in 1967 to join the Israel Defense Forces.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,010
5.

Netanyahu became a team leader in the Sayeret Matkal special forces and took part in several missions, achieving the rank of captain before being honorably discharged.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,011
6.

Netanyahu moved back to Israel in 1978 to found the Yonatan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,012
7.

Netanyahu went on to defeat the incumbent prime minister Shimon Peres at the 1996 election, and was appointed as Israel's youngest-ever prime minister.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,013
8.

Several years later, after his successor as Likud Chairman, Ariel Sharon, became prime minister, Netanyahu was convinced to return to politics, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,014
9.

Netanyahu later clashed with Sharon, eventually resigning over disagreements regarding the Gaza disengagement plan.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,015
10.

Netanyahu returned to the leadership of Likud in December 2005 after Sharon stepped down to form a new party, Kadima.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,016
11.

Netanyahu was the Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2009.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,017
12.

Netanyahu went on to lead Likud to victory in the 2013 and 2015 elections.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,018
13.

In June 2021, after Naftali Bennett formed a government with Yair Lapid, Netanyahu was removed from the premiership, becoming Leader of the Opposition for the third time.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,019
14.

Netanyahu made his closeness to Donald Trump, a personal friend since the 1980s, central to his political appeal in Israel from 2016.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,020
15.

Since December 2016, Netanyahu has been under investigation for corruption by Israeli police and prosecutors.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,021
16.

Netanyahu's mother, Tzila Segal, was born in Petah Tikva in the Ottoman Empire's Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem, and his father, Warsaw-born Benzion Netanyahu, was a historian specializing in the Jewish Golden age of Spain.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,022
17.

Netanyahu's paternal grandfather, Nathan Mileikowsky, was a rabbi and Zionist writer.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,023
18.

Netanyahu was initially raised and educated in Jerusalem, where he attended Henrietta Szold Elementary School.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,024
19.

Netanyahu trained as a combat soldier and served for five years in an elite special forces unit of the IDF, Sayeret Matkal.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,025
20.

Netanyahu was involved in many other missions, including the 1968 Israeli raid on Lebanon and the rescue of the hijacked Sabena Flight 571 in May 1972, in which he was shot in the shoulder.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,026
21.

Netanyahu was discharged from active service in 1972 but remained in the Sayeret Matkal reserves.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,027
22.

Netanyahu took part in special forces raids along the Suez Canal against Egyptian forces before leading a commando attack deep inside Syrian territory, the details of which remain classified today.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,028
23.

Netanyahu returned to the United States in late 1972 to study architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,029
24.

At MIT, Netanyahu studied a double-load, completing a master's degree in only two and a half years, despite taking a break to fight in the Yom Kippur War.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,030
25.

Years later, in an interview with the media, Netanyahu clarified that he decided to do so to make it easier for Americans to pronounce his name.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,031
26.

In 1976, Netanyahu graduated near the top of his class at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,032
27.

Netanyahu's was headhunted to be an economic consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in Boston, Massachusetts, working at the company between 1976 and 1978.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,033
28.

Netanyahu presented Israel's case to the media during the war and established a highly efficient public relations system in the Israeli embassy.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,034
29.

Between 1984 and 1988, Netanyahu served as the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,035
30.

Netanyahu was influenced by Rabbi Menachem M Schneerson, with whom he formed a relationship during the 1980s.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,036
31.

Netanyahu referred to Schneerson as "the most influential man of our time".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,037
32.

Netanyahu was the Likud's candidate for prime minister in the 1996 Israeli legislative election which took place on 26 May 1996 and were the first Israeli elections in which Israelis elected their prime minister directly.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,038
33.

Netanyahu hired American Republican political operative Arthur Finkelstein to run his campaign, and although the American style of sound bites and sharp attacks elicited harsh criticism, it proved effective.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,039
34.

When Netanyahu won the 1996 election, he became the youngest person in the history of the position and the first Israeli prime minister to be born in the State of Israel.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,040
35.

However, although Netanyahu won the election for prime minister, Peres's Israeli Labor Party received more seats in the Knesset elections.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,041
36.

Netanyahu had to rely on a coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and UTJ in order to form a government.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,042
37.

Netanyahu said that these concessions only gave encouragement to extremist elements, without receiving any tangible gestures in return.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,043
38.

Netanyahu called for tangible gestures of Palestinian goodwill in return for Israeli concessions.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,044
39.

Netanyahu first met Palestinian President Arafat on 4 September 1996.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,045
40.

In 1997, Netanyahu authorized a Mossad operation to assassinate Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in Jordan, just 3 years after the two countries had signed a peace treaty.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,046
41.

Netanyahu relented to the demands after pressure by US President Bill Clinton and ordered the release of 61 Jordanian and Palestinian prisoners including Sheikh Ahmad Yassin.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,047
42.

Netanyahu greatly eased Israel's strict foreign exchange controls, enabling Israelis to take an unrestricted amount of money out of the country, open foreign bank accounts, hold foreign currency, and invest freely in other countries.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,048
43.

Netanyahu lost favor with the Israeli public after a long chain of scandals involving his marriage and corruption charges.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,049
44.

In 1997, police recommended that Netanyahu be indicted on corruption charges for influence-peddling.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,050
45.

Netanyahu was accused of appointing an attorney general who would reduce the charges but prosecutors ruled that there was insufficient evidence to go to trial.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,051
46.

In 1999, Netanyahu faced another scandal when the Israel Police recommended that he be tried for corruption for $100,000 in free services from a government contractor; Israel's attorney general did not prosecute, citing difficulties with evidence.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,052
47.

Netanyahu subsequently served as a senior consultant with Israeli communications equipment manufacturer BATM Advanced Communications for two years.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,053
48.

Netanyahu insisted that general elections should be held, claiming that otherwise it would be impossible to have a stable government.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,054
49.

Netanyahu decided eventually not to run for the prime minister position, a move which facilitated the surprising rise to power of Ariel Sharon, who at the time was considered less popular than Netanyahu.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,055
50.

Netanyahu challenged Sharon for the leadership of the Likud party, but failed to oust him.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,056
51.

Netanyahu was not present at the protest, having remained at Montreal's Ritz-Carlton Hotel throughout the duration.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,057
52.

Netanyahu later accused the activists of supporting terrorism and "mad zealotry".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,058
53.

On 12 September 2002, Netanyahu testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform regarding the nuclear threat posed by the Iraqi regime: "There is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking and is working and is advancing towards the development of nuclear weapons – no question whatsoever", he said.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,059
54.

Netanyahu claimed that a bloated public sector and excessive regulations were largely responsible for stifling economic growth.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,060
55.

Netanyahu's plan involved a move toward more liberalized markets, although it was not without its critics.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,061
56.

Netanyahu threatened to resign from office in 2004 unless the Gaza pullout plan was put to a referendum.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,062
57.

Netanyahu later modified the ultimatum and voted for the program in the Knesset, indicating immediately thereafter that he would resign unless a referendum was held within 14 days.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,063
58.

Netanyahu submitted his resignation letter on 7 August 2005, shortly before the Israeli cabinet voted 17 to 5 to approve the initial phase of withdrawal from Gaza.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,064
59.

Netanyahu opposed the 2008 Israel–Hamas ceasefire, like others in the Knesset opposition.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,065
60.

Netanyahu was the Likud's candidate for prime minister in the 2009 Israeli legislative election which took place on 10 February 2009, as Livni, the previous designated acting prime minister under the Olmert government, had been unable to form a viable governing coalition.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,066
61.

Netanyahu claimed victory on the basis that right-wing parties won the majority of the vote, and on 20 February 2009, Netanyahu was designated by Israeli President Shimon Peres to succeed Ehud Olmert as prime minister, and began his negotiations to form a coalition government.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,067
62.

Netanyahu did manage to entice a smaller rival, the Labour party, chaired by Ehud Barak, to join his government, giving him a certain amount of centrist tone.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,068
63.

Netanyahu presented his cabinet for a Knesset "Vote of Confidence" on 31 March 2009.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,069
64.

Netanyahu stated that he would accept a Palestinian state if Jerusalem were to remain the united capital of Israel, the Palestinians would have no army, and the Palestinians would give up their demand for a right of return.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,070
65.

Netanyahu argued the right for a "natural growth" in the existing Jewish settlements in the West Bank while their permanent status is up to further negotiation.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,071
66.

Three months after starting his term, Netanyahu remarked that his cabinet already had achieved several notable successes, such as the establishment of a working national unity government, and a broad consensus for a "two-state solution".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,072
67.

Netanyahu has lifted checkpoints in the West Bank in order to allow freedom of movement and a flow of imports; a step that resulted in an economic boost in the West Bank.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,073
68.

In 2009, Netanyahu welcomed the Arab Peace initiative and lauded a call by Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa to normalize relations with Israel.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,074
69.

Netanyahu was reported to be in a pivotal moment over these understandings, that were reported to include a compromise over permission on continuing the already approved construction in the West Bank in exchange for freezing all settlements thereafter, as well as continuing building in East Jerusalem, and at the same time stopping the demolition of houses of Arab inhabitants there.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,075
70.

On 4 September 2009, it was reported that Netanyahu was to agree to settlers' political demands to approve more settlement constructions before a temporary settlement freeze agreement took place.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,076
71.

On 7 September 2009, Netanyahu left his office without reporting where he was headed.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,077
72.

On 24 September 2009, in an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Netanyahu said Iran poses a threat to the peace of the world and that it is incumbent on the world body to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,078
73.

Netanyahu subsequently issued a statement that all previous Israeli governments had continuously permitted construction in the neighborhood, and that certain neighborhoods such as Ramat Shlomo and Gilo have always been included as part of Israel in any final agreement plan that has been proposed by either side to date.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,079
74.

In September 2010, Netanyahu agreed to enter direct talks, mediated by the Obama administration, with the Palestinians for the first time in a long while.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,080
75.

On retiring from office in July 2011, former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates had said that Netanyahu was ungrateful to the United States and endangering Israel.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,081
76.

Responding, the Likud party defended Netanyahu by saying that most Israelis supported the Prime Minister and that he had broad support in the United States.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,082
77.

Netanyahu unsuccessfully called for the early release of Jonathan Pollard, an American serving a life sentence for passing secret US documents to Israel in 1987.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,083
78.

Netanyahu has raised the issue at the Wye River Summit in 1998, where he claimed that US President Bill Clinton had privately agreed to release Pollard.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,084
79.

Netanyahu's cabinet approved a plan to build a fiber-optic cable network across the country to bring cheap, high-speed fiber-optic Internet access to every home.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,085
80.

In 2012, Netanyahu initially planned to call early elections, but subsequently oversaw the creation of a controversial government of national unity to see Israel through until the national elections of 2013.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,086
81.

In May 2012, Netanyahu officially recognized for the first time the right for Palestinians to have their own state in an official document, a letter to Mahmoud Abbas, though as before he declared it would have to be demilitarized.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,087
82.

Netanyahu had formed the Concentration Committee in 2010, and the bill, which was pushed forward by his government, implemented its recommendations.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,088
83.

Netanyahu began a campaign of port privatization to break what he viewed as the monopoly held by workers of the Israel Port Authority, so as to lower consumer prices and increase exports.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,089
84.

Netanyahu has pledged to curb excess bureaucracy and regulations to ease the burden on industry.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,090
85.

Netanyahu blamed Hamas for the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in June 2014, and launched a massive search and arrest operation on the West Bank, targeting members of Hamas in particular, and over the following weeks hit 60 targets in Gaza.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,091
86.

In October 2014, Netanyahu's government approved a privatization plan to reduce corruption and politicization in government companies, and strengthen Israel's capital market.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,092
87.

That same month, Netanyahu called criticism of settlements "against the American values", a remark that earned him a sharp rebuke from the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, who noted that American values had resulted in Israel receiving not only consistent funding but protective technology such as Iron Dome.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,093
88.

Netanyahu explained that he does not accept restrictions on where Jews could live, and said that Jerusalem's Arabs and Jews should be able to buy homes wherever they want.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,094
89.

On 2 December 2014, Netanyahu fired two of his ministers, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who heads the centrist Yesh Atid party and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads Hatnua.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,095
90.

Seven American Jewish lawmakers met with Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the US and recommended that Netanyahu instead meet with lawmakers privately to discuss Iran.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,096
91.

In making the speech, Netanyahu claimed to speak for all Jews worldwide, a claim disputed by others in the Jewish community.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,097
92.

Netanyahu said that support of a Palestinian state is tantamount to yielding territory for radical Islamic terrorists to attack Israel.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,098
93.

On 28 May 2015, Netanyahu announced that he would be running for an unprecedented fifth term as prime minister in the next general election and that he supports Likud's current process of picking MK candidates.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,099
94.

In October 2015, Netanyahu drew widespread criticism for claiming that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, gave Adolf Hitler the idea for the Holocaust in the preceding months to the Second World War, convincing the Nazi leader to exterminate Jews rather than just expel them from Europe.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,100
95.

In March 2016, Netanyahu's coalition faced a potential crisis as ultra-Orthodox members threatened to withdraw over the government's proposed steps to create non-Orthodox prayer space at the Western Wall.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,101
96.

Netanyahu strongly criticized both the UN Resolution and Kerry's speech in response.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,102
97.

On 22 February 2017, Netanyahu became the first serving prime minister of Israel to visit Australia.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,103
98.

Netanyahu recalled that it was the Australian Light Horse regiments that liberated Beersheba during World War I, and this began what has been a relationship of 100 years between the countries.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,104
99.

On 12 October 2017, shortly after the United States announced the same action, Netanyahu's government announced it was leaving UNESCO due to what it saw as anti-Israel actions by the agency, and it made that decision official in December 2017.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,105
100.

On 30 April 2018, Netanyahu accused Iran of not holding up its end of the Iran nuclear deal after presenting a cache of over 100,000 documents detailing the extent of Iran's nuclear program.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,106
101.

Since January 2017, Netanyahu has been investigated and questioned by Israeli police in two cases, "Case 1000" and "Case 2000".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,107
102.

In Case 1000, Netanyahu is suspected of having obtained inappropriate favors from businessmen, including James Packer and Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,108
103.

On 3 August 2017, Israeli police confirmed for the first time that Netanyahu was suspected of crimes involving fraud, breach of trust, and bribes in cases "1000" and "2000".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,109
104.

Netanyahu responded that the allegations were baseless and that he would continue as prime minister.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,110
105.

Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister in Israel's history to be charged with a crime.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,111
106.

On 17 May 2020, Netanyahu was sworn-in for a fifth term as prime minister in a coalition with Benny Gantz.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,112
107.

Netanyahu has been described as "the advocate of the free-market".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,113
108.

Netanyahu introduced a welfare to work program, he led a program of privatization, reduced the size of the public sector, reformed and streamlined the taxation system and passed laws against monopolies and cartels with the aim of increasing competition.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,114
109.

Netanyahu extended capital gains taxes from companies to individuals, which allowed him to enlarge the tax base while reducing taxes on incomes.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,115
110.

Netanyahu defines capitalism as "the ability to have individual initiative and competition to produce goods and services with profit, but not to shut out somebody else from trying to do the same".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,116
111.

Netanyahu has said his own "hard line against all terrorists" came as a result of his brother's death.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,117
112.

Yoni Netanyahu had been killed while leading the hostage-rescue mission at Operation Entebbe.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,118
113.

In 2017 Netanyahu called for the death penalty to be imposed on the perpetrator of the 2017 Halamish stabbing attack.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,119
114.

Netanyahu asserted that Amin al-Husseini had been one of the masterminds of the Holocaust, and that Yasser Arafat was heir to the former's "alleged exterminationist Nazism".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,120
115.

Netanyahu said, "Should we achieve a turn toward peace with the more moderate partners, we will insist on the recognition of the State of Israel and the demilitarization of the future Palestinian state".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,121
116.

Netanyahu had previously called US -backed peace talks a waste of time, while at the same time refusing to commit to the same two-state solution as had other Israeli leaders, until a speech in June 2009.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,122
117.

Netanyahu repeatedly made public statements which advocated an "economic peace" approach, meaning an approach based on economic cooperation and joint effort rather than continuous contention over political and diplomatic issues.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,123
118.

Netanyahu raised these ideas during discussions with former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,124
119.

Netanyahu continued to advocate these ideas as the Israeli elections approached.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,125
120.

In January 2009, prior to the February 2009 Israeli elections Netanyahu informed Middle East envoy Tony Blair that he would continue the policy of the Israeli governments of Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert by expanding settlements in the West Bank, in contravention of the Road Map, but not building new ones.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,126
121.

In 2013, Netanyahu denied reports that his government would agree to peace talks on the basis of the green line.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,127
122.

In 2014, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat criticized Netanyahu, calling him "ideologically corrupt" and a war criminal.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,128
123.

In January 2020, Netanyahu publicly supported Trump's Israeli-Palestinian peace plan for the creation of the State of Palestine.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,129
124.

Former United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said that on 22 May 2017, Netanyahu showed Donald Trump a fake and altered video of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas calling for the killing of children.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,130
125.

Netanyahu had showed Trump the fake video to change his position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,131
126.

On 14 June 2009, Netanyahu delivered a seminal address at Bar-Ilan University, at Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, that was broadcast live in Israel and across parts of the Arab world, on the topic of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,132
127.

Netanyahu endorsed for the first time the notion of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,133
128.

Netanyahu stated that the Palestinians should recognize Israel as the Jewish national state with an undivided Jerusalem.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,134
129.

Netanyahu did not discuss whether or not the settlements should be part of Israel after peace negotiations, simply stating that the "question will be discussed".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,135
130.

Some right-wing members of Netanyahu's governing coalition criticized his remarks for the creation of a Palestinian State, believing that all of the land should come under Israeli sovereignty.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,136
131.

Likud MK Danny Danon said that Netanyahu went "against the Likud platform", while MK Uri Orbach of Habayit Hayehudi said that it had "dangerous implications".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,137
132.

On 9 August 2009, speaking at the opening of a government meeting, Netanyahu repeated his claims from the Palestinians: "We want an agreement with two factors, the first of which is the recognition of Israel as the national state of the Jewish people and a security settlement".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,138
133.

Senior official Saeb Erekat said, "Netanyahu's speech closed the door to permanent status negotiations".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,139
134.

Netanyahu added that "whether what he mentioned can be defined as a state is a subject of some debate".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,140
135.

Immediately after the 2012 Burgas bus bombing, Netanyahu confirmed that the attack had been undertaken in coordination with Iran.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,141
136.

Netanyahu praised the air strike, saying that Trump had acted "swiftly, forcefully and decisively".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,142
137.

In 2013, Netanyahu found himself caught between conflicting commitments made to the family of American terror victim Daniel Wultz and the Government of China.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,143
138.

In 2011, Netanyahu arranged for 1000 Hamas and Fatah prisoners to be swapped for Gilad Shalit, including terrorists with "blood on their hands".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,144
139.

However Netanyahu decided to cut social programs instead, and promised to increase the defense budget by about six percent.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,145
140.

In 2012 the Netanyahu government passed the "Prevention of Infiltration Law", which mandated automatic detention of all people, including asylum-seekers, who enter Israel without permission.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,146
141.

Netanyahu is critical of what he sees as the overly open immigration policy of EU nations.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,147
142.

Netanyahu has urged the leaders of Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland to close their borders to illegal immigration.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,148
143.

Netanyahu's mother was born in 1912 in Petah Tikva, then in Ottoman Palestine, now Israel.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,149
144.

Netanyahu is related to Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna on his paternal side.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,150
145.

Netanyahu's father, Benzion, was a professor of Jewish history at Cornell University, editor of the Encyclopaedia Hebraica, and a senior aide to Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who remained active in research and writing into his nineties.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,151
146.

In 1978, while Weizmann was pregnant, Netanyahu met a non-Jewish British student named Fleur Cates at the university library, and began an affair.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,152
147.

Netanyahu's marriage ended in divorce soon afterward, when his wife Miriam discovered the affair.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,153
148.

Netanyahu was in the process of completing a master's degree in psychology.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,154
149.

In 1993, Netanyahu confessed on live television to having had an affair with Ruth Bar, his public relations adviser.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,155
150.

Netanyahu has a close relationship with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban, their having known each other for decades due to the privileged relationship between the Likud Party and the EPP, the European People's Party.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,156
151.

Netanyahu has been noted for his close and friendly relationship with then Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,157
152.

Netanyahu has a warm relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, touting their "personal friendship" in April 2019.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,158
153.

Netanyahu had been a friend of Donald Trump's father, Fred, when Netanyahu lived in New York during the 1980s, serving as UN ambassador.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,159
154.

In June 2019, Netanyahu officially renamed a settlement in the disputed Golan Heights after Donald Trump.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,160
155.

However, Trump aide Jared Kushner has claimed that in January 2020, Trump became frustrated with Netanyahu's rhetoric regarding annexation of the Jordan Valley, and considered endorsing his political opponent, Benny Gantz.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,161
156.

Netanyahu has close ties with the congressional leadership of the US Republican Party and with its 2012 presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,162
157.

In March 2010, Netanyahu remarked during a joint statement with Biden during his visit of Israel that their friendship had started almost three decades prior.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,163
158.

Secretary of State John Kerry phoned Netanyahu to clarify that "such statements are disgraceful, unacceptable and damaging" and "do not reflect the position of the United States".

FactSnippet No. 1,563,164
159.

Netanyahu called his Polish counterpart's comment "outrageous" for saying that Jews had been among the Holocaust's perpetrators.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,165
160.

Netanyahu has developed a close relationship with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro following Bolsonaro's election in 2018.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,166
161.

In March 2019, after being denounced by Turkey as a racist for saying that Israel was the nation-state of the Jewish people only, Netanyahu called Erdogan a dictator and mocked him for imprisoning journalists in a tweet.

FactSnippet No. 1,563,167