WhatsappBenjamin Netanyahu emerged onto the leadership of the Israeli scene as a leading spokesman for the State of Israel in the late 70’s and early 80’s. He was a former elite Army soldier who fought in the Yom Kippur War and took part in operations to stifle the Arab Terror movements. On July 4th, 1976, Netanyahu’s older brother, Yoni, led a group of Israeli commandos in a successful raid against terrorists in Entebbe. The terrorists had hijacked a plane with Israeli and non-Israeli tourists on it. They freed the non-Jewish passengers and American citizens. But they threatened to kill all 101 Israelis on board if their demands were not met. Israel began to negotiate with the terrorists, but in the end, decided to send four planes down to Entebbe and raid the airport. In the successful raid, the only Israeli soldier that was killed was Yoni Netanyahu, Benjamin’s older brother.
Benjamin Netanyahu became a spokesman in the worldwide fight against terrorism. His excellent command of English coupled with his experience as a battle-tested soldier catapulted him into the spotlight. By the mid and late 80’s, he was already a rising star in the Likud party. And before long, he became Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations. No Israeli was a better interview than Benjamin Netanyahu. And in Israel, his star continued to rise as the Labor party led Israel into the Oslo peace process. Netanyahu emerged as the most eloquent leader in the fight against Israel relinquishing it’s Land in order to “take a risk” on peace. As the costs of the peace process grew and homicidal attacks by Arabs grew, Netanyahu became more and more popular.
In 1996, Netanyahu became a young Prime Minister of Israel, still in his 40’s. Although his 1st term was not much of a success, he would return to lead the country 7 years after being voted out of office. Then, he became the longest serving Prime Minister, as he led Israel for more than a decade afterwards. To this day, Netanyahu is a central leader in Israel and a legendary figure for so much of the population. This rare interview goes back around 40 years and sheds light on what has been a central aspect of Netanyahu’s political philosophy – the persistent fight against terror.
