Shutterstock
Benjamin Netanyahu has become a complicated figure in recent years. Growing up in both Israel and the United States, he would eventually rise to the position of Prime Minister in his home country. After a failure to run for re-election, he eventually managed to return to the position, among various political episodes, at least three additional times. Let’s take a look at his political career over the years, starting with his net worth.
Benjamin Netanyahu Net Worth: $11 Million
Benjamin Netanyahu’s net worth is estimated to be around $11 million.
The Early Years
Netanyahu was born in 1949 in Tel Aviv, Israel to secular Jewish parents. His mother, Tzila Segal, was born in Israel and his father Prof. Benzion Netanyahu, was born in Warsaw, Poland. Raised and educated in Jerusalem, he attended Henrietta Szold Elementary School. At different intervals, between 1956 to 1956, and 1963 to 1967, his family lived in the United States, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, notably attending Cheltenham High School, where he learned to become fluent in English.
1967-1975
Upon graduation, he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, training as a combat soldier and served for five years. He notably took part in assault raids during the War of Attrition, lasting from 1967 to 1970. After completing his army service in 1972, Netanyahu returned to the United States, studying architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The following year, he returned to Israel to serve in the Yom Kippur War. Eventually, he returned to the United States, using the alias, “Ben Nitay,” where he completed his SB degree in architecture in 1975 and earned an SM degree the following year from the MIT Sloan School of Management. In 1976, Netanyahu’s older brother Yonatan Netanyahu was killed during a counter-terrorism hostage-rescue mission, while serving as the commander of his brother’s former unit.
1977-1988
After graduating from MIT Sloan School of Management, Netanyahu worked as an economic consultant for the Boston Consulting Group in Massachusetts, finishing his position in 1978. Towards the end of the decade, he the Jonathan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute, which was devoted to the study of terrorism. For the next two years, he was director of marketing for Rim Industries in Jerusalem. During the time, he was also appointed Deputy Chief of Mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. In 1984, he rose to become the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.
1988-1995
In 1988, Netanyahu returned to Israel, joining the Likud party. During this time, he was appointed a deputy for various political figures, such as Moshe Arens and David Levy. By the end of 1991, Netanyahu was appointed as Deputy Minister in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. In 1996, he was his party’s candidate for Prime Minister in the 1996 Israeli legislative election, which he won, becoming the youngest person in history to win the position, as well as being the first Israeli Prime Minister to be born in the State of Israel.
1996-2005
Netanyahu served as Prime Minister of the State of Israel for three years, starting in 1996. During this term, he pushed for Israel to move towards a free-market economy, notably easing foreign exchange controls. In 1999, Netanyahu ran for re-election, ultimately losing to Ehud Barak. Although Netanyahu initially intended to retire from politics, this changed when Barak resigned from his position in late 2000 and was followed by Ariel Sharon, who appointed Netanyahu as Foreign Minister. In 2002, Netanyahu testified as a private citizen before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Between 2003 to 2005, Sharon appointed Netanyahu to Finance Minister; he eventually resigned from the position as an ultimatum concerning the Gaza pullout plan. In 2006, he became the official Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset and Chairman of Likud.
2009-Present
From 2009 to 2013, Netanyahu took on his second term as Prime Minister, he also successfully ran for re-election in 2013. In late 2017, Netanyahu’s government announced plans to leave the UNESCO over accusations of anti-Israel actions, notifying the agency of its withdrawal by December of that year. In early 2017, Netanyahu had also been the subject of a criminal investigation; by August 2017, police confirmed that he was suspected of crimes of fraud, breach of trust and bribes.