Benjamin Netanyahu Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio
Real Name	Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu
Nickname	Bibi
Profession(s)	Politician, Economic consultant, Writer, Marketing executive
Party	Likud
Political Journey	• From 1984 to 1988, served as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations. • In 1988, joined the Likud Party. • In 1988, elected as a Knesset member of the 12th Knesset. • In 1988, appointed as a deputy of the foreign minister Moshe Arens. • In 1991, appointed as Deputy Minister in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. • In 1993, became the leader of the Likud Party. • From 18 June 1996 to 6 July 1999, served as the 9th Prime Minister of Israel. • From 28 February 2003 to 9 August 2005, served as the Minister of Finance in the Ariel Sharon Government. • From 28 March 2006 to 31 March 2009, served as the Leader of the Opposition. • From 6 November 2002 to 28 February 2003, served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ariel Sharon Government. • From 18 December 2012 to 11 November 2013, again served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ariel Sharon Government. • On 31 March 2009, became the 9th Prime Minister of Israel. • In the 2013 election, he returned in power and continued his third term as Prime Minister. • In the 2015 election, he continued his fourth term as Prime Minister after his party Likud came in power. • On 17 May 2020, Netanyahu became the Prime Minister of Israel for the fifth time after he allied with with Benny Gantz. • On 13 June 2020, he had to resign following which he became the Leader of the Opposition. • In November 2022, his party emerged victorious in election following which Netanyahu was officially tasked with forming a new government. [1]Al Jazeera
Biggest Rival	David Levy
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	5' 10" (178 cm)
Eye Color	Hazel Green
Hair Color	White
Personal Life
Date of Birth	21 October 1949
Age (as of 2024)	75 Years
Birthplace	Tel Aviv, Israel
Zodiac sign	Libra
Signature
Nationality	Israeli
Hometown	Jerusalem, Israel
School	Henrietta Szold Elementary School, Jerusalem, Israel Cheltenham High School, Pennsylvania, USA
College/University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
Educational Qualifications	SB degree (Bachelor of Science) in Architecture in February 1975 SM degree (Master of Science) from the MIT Sloan School of Management in June 1976 Doctorate in Political Science (quit after his brother's death)
Debut	In 1988, when he joined the Likud Party
Family	Father- Benzion Netanyahu (Professor of History and Israeli Historian) Mother- Tzila Segal Brothers- Yonatan Netanyahu (Israel Defense Force Officer), Iddo Netanyahu (Physician) Sister- N/A
Religion	Judaism
Ethnicity	Jewish
Address	Beit Aghion (Beit Rosh HaMemshala), 9 Smolenskin Street, Balfour Street, Rehavia, Jerusalem, Israel
Hobbies	Reading Books (mostly non-fiction),
Controversies	• Rivals criticized him for changing his name to make it easier for Americans to pronounce his name. While in the US, he changed his name from Benjamin Netanyahu to Benjamin Ben Nitai. • Since his premiership of Israel, he has been criticized for his lavish lifestyle on Israeli taxpayers. His criticisms range from swanky office furniture to scented candles. • In 2001, he was criticized for receiving illegitimate money of $40,000 from Mimran. However, he denied the allegation and said that it was a legitimate donation. • In 2009, he was criticized for taking donations from a Frenchman, who was convicted of Carbon Tax fraud. • He has also been criticized for his alleged involvement in a controversial submarine deal with a German company ThyssenKrupp. • He was criticized for taking her wife Sarah and children on his overseas jaunts while serving as the Finance Minister between 2003 and 2005. • He was criticized for using the money of Israeli taxpayers for an extra-large double bed to be installed on a plane to Margaret Thatcher's funeral in 2013. • In 2013, he was criticized for spending over £600,000 on his three residences in just 4 years, with £1,700 spent on ice cream and £1,000 on scented candles. • In 2014, he was criticized for ordering Israeli Forces to target The Gaza region with thousands of rockets that invited an international outcry over the destruction and massive loss of civilian life. • In 2014, his wife, Sarah, was accused of abusing and insulting the staff at the family's official residence in Jerusalem. • In 2015, he was criticized for going on a 6-day trip to New York and spending $600,000 of public money and $1,600 on a personal hairdresser. • In 2015, he was criticized for spending £5,100 of taxpayers' money on his private villa's furniture. • In November 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Benjamin and several other individuals over their alleged role in violating human rights in Palestine and the Gaza Strip in the name of fighting terrorists. Netanyahu later released a video in which he called the warrant as "antisemitic" and warned the ICC of dire consequences if the warrants were not revoked.
Favorites
Poet	Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Books	'The Five Forefathers of Zionism' by Ben-Zion Netanyahu (his father), 'The Rise of Nuclear Iran – How Iran Defies the West' by Dore Gold, 'Advice to War Presidents: A Remedial Course in Statecraft' by Angelo Codevilla
Food	Pistachio flavored Ice Cream
Girls, Affairs and More
Sexual Orientation	Straight
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Miriam Weizmann (Army Personnel) Fleur Cates (English-born Harvard Business School graduate) Sara Ben-Artzi (Psychologist)
Wife	Miriam Weizmann, Army Personnel (m. 1972, div. 1978) Fleur Cates, English-born Harvard Business School graduate (m. 1981, div. 1984) Sara Ben-Artzi, Psychologist (m. 1991-present)
Children	Daughter- Noa Netanyahu-Roth (with Miriam Haran) Sons- Yair Netanyahu, Avner Netanyahu (with Sara Ben-Artzi)
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	$11 million (as of 2015)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Benjamin Netanyahu

• Does Benjamin Netanyahu drink alcohol?: Yes 

• He was born in Tel Aviv Israel to a Warsaw-born father and an Israeli-born mother.

• He found via a DNA test that he also has some Sephardi Jewish ancestry.

• He attained his Primary education in Jerusalem. His 6th-grade teacher said that he was polite, courteous, and helpful; that Netanyahu’s work was ‘punctual & responsible’; and that he was disciplined, friendly, brave, cheerful, and obedient.

• He lived with his family in Philadelphia (USA) between 1956 and 1958, and again from 1963 to 1967.

• In 1967, he returned to Israel and served for 5 years as a combat soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.

• During the 1967–70 War of Attrition, he took part in various cross-border assault raids and rose to become a team leader in the unit.

• In May 1972, he was shot in the shoulder while rescuing the hijacked Sabena Flight 571.

• In 1973, he took part in the Yom Kippur War.

• At the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), he completed his SM Degree (Master of Science) in just 2 and half years (that would normally take 4 years).

• During his stay in the United States, he changed his name to ‘Benjamin Ben Nitai’ to make it easier for Americans to pronounce his name.

• While pursuing his doctorate in 1976, his older brother Yonatan Netanyahu was killed in a counter-terrorism hostage-rescue mission Operation Entebbe.

• Between 1976 and 1978, Netanyahu worked as an Economic Consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in Boston, Massachusetts where he was a colleague of Mitt Romney and developed a lasting friendship with him.

• He returned to Israel in 1978 and ran the Jonathan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute (an NGO devoted to the study of terrorism).

• He made his first connections with Israeli politicians during his stint as the director of marketing for Rim Industries in Jerusalem from 1980 to 1982.

• While living in New York during the 1980s, he became friends with Fred Trump (father of Donald Trump).

• In June 1996, he became the youngest ever Prime Minister of Israel.

• In September 1996, he met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the first time. 

• In August 2005, he resigned from the post of Minister of Finance in protest over the plan to withdraw Jewish settlers from Gaza & return their land to the control of Palestine.

• In September 2010, Netanyahu met with Barack Obama (the then President of the United States) in Washington to restart peace talks between Israel and Palestine. 

• In February 2017, he met Donald Trump (the US President) and praised his leadership handling the threat of terrorism.

• He is very fond of Ice Cream and according to sources, his average consumption is 14 kg of Ice Cream/week. 

• On 27 May 2024, he made a public statement to acknowledge a “tragic mishap” after an Israeli strike killed at least 45 people, including 12 women, eight children, and three older adults, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on 26 May 2024.

• On 17 June 2024, he dissolved a six-member war cabinet after the member of the Israeli Knesset Benny Gantz resigned from the emergency government of Netanyahu.