Netanyahu, Binyamin (1949– )

Israeli right-wing politician and diplomat, leader of the Likud (Consolidation) party 1993–99 and prime minister 1996–99. A hard-line politician, he succeeded Yitzhak Shamir to the Likud leadership in March 1993, following the party's 1992 electoral defeat. Israel's first directly elected prime minister, he persistently frustrated progress in the Israel–Palestine peace process.

He served in the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, 1982–84 and was a principal representative at the United Nations in New York 1984–88. As deputy foreign minister in the Likud-led government of Shamir, he was the chief Israeli spokesperson in the 1991–92 Middle East peace talks. In late 1998, he was signatory to the Wye Accord, signed in the USA, that resulted from peace talks between the Israeli government and the Palestinians; nevertheless, he effectively managed to postpone the peace moves. In December 1998, following the parliament's vote, Netanyahu was forced to call an early election in 1999, and in May the Labour Party candidate, Ehud Barak, was elected prime minister.

Netanyahu and his wife were questioned by fraud investigators in September 1999 over allegations, which they denied, that he had misused public funds during his time in office. However, Israel's attorney-general announced in September 2000 that Netanyahu would not face trial on corruption charges because of lack of evidence. The decision opened the way for a political comeback, and when Ehud Barak announced his resignation in December, Netanyahu announced his candidacy for prime minister. However, Netanyahu linked his candidacy to a call for fresh general elections, and had to withdraw from the race in January 2001 when Shas, the Knesset's third-biggest party, decided to oppose this call.