Overview

Background

Netanyahu was born on October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, and has served as Israel's prime minister three times — from 1996 to 1999, from 2009 to 2021, and again from December 2022 to the present — making him the longest-serving prime minister since Israel's independence. The son of historian Benzion Netanyahu, he moved with his family to Philadelphia in 1963, later enlisted in the Israeli military in 1967, became a soldier in the elite special operations unit Sayeret Matkal, and subsequently studied at MIT, earning an M.B.A. in 1976, taking time out to fight in the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

His studies were interrupted when his brother Yoni was killed in the raid on Entebbe, Uganda, which inspired Netanyahu to return to Israel and dedicate his life to protecting the state. He became highly involved in international counterterrorism efforts, which helped launch his political career, and after serving in the Israeli embassy in Washington from 1982 to 1984, he became the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988. Netanyahu held several ambassadorial positions before being elected to the Knesset as a Likud member in 1988. He served as deputy minister of foreign affairs and then as a deputy minister in Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's cabinet, before easily winning election as Likud party leader in 1993.

He rose to prominence as a staunch security hawk in the shadow of the Oslo peace process and used his powerful oratory to withstand international pressure for a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Though disgraced in 2021 following a series of criminal corruption charges, he returned to power the following year with the backing of far-right parties — a comeback that tethered him to Israel's most fringe political elements and precipitated some of the most contentious policies of his political career, including a bid to subjugate Israel's judiciary to the Knesset and a stubborn reluctance to bring the Israel-Hamas War to an end.

Public Role in the Second Trump Administration

A Strategic Alliance, Renewed

Netanyahu was the first world leader Trump met with after beginning his second term as president. That February 2025 White House visit set the tone for a relationship built on shared political interests and mutual personal regard. Trump was wildly popular in Israel during his first term, when he lent unprecedented support to Israel's claims to territory seized in war, including by moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. The trend continued in his second term, as he backed Israel's actions in Gaza and joined it in bombing Iran.

In his second term, Trump brought about a ceasefire in Gaza and the return of all living Israeli hostages, and the United States joined Israel's twelve-day war targeting Iran's nuclear infrastructure. For Netanyahu, the alliance with Trump provided both military backing and political cover at a moment when his government faced intense international scrutiny. Trump's unmatched leverage over Netanyahu, however, gives the prime minister little room to maneuver.

Gaza and the Peace Process

Netanyahu has pursued a hard-power-based regional strategy that has at times been at odds with the Trump administration's preferences for negotiated solutions to the region's conflicts. Trump's team has expressed concerns that Israel's policies could lead to a restart of the conflict in Gaza and destabilize governments in Lebanon and post-Assad Syria. As of early August 2026, this tension has come to a head: Netanyahu rejected Trump's latest plan to advance the stalled ceasefire in Gaza, saying Israel will not withdraw from any of the roughly 60 percent of the territory it controls until Hamas has been completely disarmed.

Trump briefly commented on Netanyahu's outright rejection of the 15-point peace plan for Gaza drafted by the U.S.-led Board of Peace, insisting that his relationship with Netanyahu is "very good" despite Netanyahu's dismissal. The public posture of goodwill has obscured a deepening substantive divide.

Iran and Regional Security

Trump's foreign policy in his second term has been characterized by his shoring up of relationships with Muslim partners in the Middle East, often over the objections of Israel. This pattern intensified after the war with Iran began, especially as Washington's public objectives began diverging from those of Jerusalem, with Trump continuing to boost ties with states such as Turkey, Syria, and Qatar.

Trump signaled openness to selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey — one of Israel's most prominent international adversaries — despite Netanyahu's public warnings. Washington also confirmed signing a civilian nuclear agreement with Saudi Arabia without initially mentioning normalization with Israel as a condition, though Trump subsequently said the deal would not advance unless Riyadh joined the Abraham Accords. Netanyahu, for his part, has sought assurances that these regional moves would not compromise Israel's qualitative military edge, while pressing for a new long-term U.S.-Israel defense pact to replace the Obama-era memorandum set to expire.

Domestic Legal Exposure and the ICC

On November 21, 2024, following an investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, the former minister of military affairs. The warrants have significantly complicated Netanyahu's international travel and diplomatic standing. A late-July 2026 poll found that 49 percent of Americans believe he should be arrested under the ICC warrant, while nearly half say U.S. support for Israel has gone too far. In addition, Netanyahu's long-running corruption trial — on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust — continues in Israeli courts, an ongoing political and legal liability.

Recent Developments

Netanyahu and Trump met at the White House in late July 2026 for the eighth time since Trump's second term began — the first such meeting in five months, after a year and a half in which the two leaders rarely went more than ten weeks without seeing each other, reflecting a radical shift in the relationship. The once-close Trump-Netanyahu relationship has grown visibly strained since the Iran war, with Trump publicly rebuking Netanyahu over Israeli operations in Lebanon and Vice President JD Vance warning Israeli leaders not to alienate what he called their only remaining major ally.

Combined with Netanyahu's corruption trial, mounting economic strain, uncertainty over Gaza's future governance, and the ongoing confrontations with Iran and Hezbollah, the upcoming elections could determine whether Israel's deeply strained social contract can endure. On the domestic front, the ultra-Orthodox parties, key partners in Netanyahu's governing coalition, have tied their support to preserving their constituents' long-standing exemption from mandatory military service, pressing for passage of a divisive bill to enshrine it in law.

Outlook

Netanyahu enters the 2026 campaign in a paradoxical position: weakened politically, yet still Israel's single most dominant political figure. Most surveys show his right-wing and religious coalition falling short of the 61 seats required for a Knesset majority. In direct leadership surveys, he still outperforms individual rivals, but head-to-head matchups against former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are increasingly competitive, reflecting broad voter fatigue.

With the Iran war at a stalemate, and Trump looking to advance peace efforts elsewhere, Netanyahu's task is getting harder less than three months away from Israeli elections. Netanyahu has little political room to agree to a Gaza withdrawal before Israelis vote in national elections in October, with the political cost of appearing to hand Hamas a victory simply too high. The fractured political scene means that no party is likely to secure an overwhelming mandate, leading either to deadlock or a continuation of Netanyahu's government in some form. Whether his long record of political survival translates once again into electoral success remains the defining open question of Israeli politics heading into the fall.