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| BENJAMIN NETANYAHU | |
 February 2001 
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Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not running in the Feb. 6 special election for prime minister, but came close to being the right-wing Likud Party candidate. |
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The telegenic hard-liner decided not to run, passing up a possible rematch against Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who unseated Netanyahu in 1999. Though Netanyahu was technically ineligible to run in the Feb. 6 special election, the Knesset worked on legislation to allow his candidacy. Netanyahu has enjoyed renewed popularity and he disappointed many supporters when he decided to postpone a run at the prime minister's seat until a full government election came around. He did, however, take the opportunity to criticize Barak as too soft on Palestinian militants. Born in Tel Aviv in 1949, Netanyahu has a marked American influence. As an adolescent he lived in the U.S. where his father taught Jewish history. After serving in the Israeli military, he returned to study political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, earning degrees from MIT in architecture and management studies. In 1976 he joined the Boston Consulting Group, an international business consulting firm, before moving to the management of Rim Industries in Jerusalem. Netanyahu's six years in the Israeli military included a stint with an elite commando unit. He was wounded in an operation to free hostages aboard a hijacked plane and later discharged with the rank of captain. The death of his brother in another hijacked airline rescue attempt prompted Netanyahu to organize international antiterrorist conferences in Jerusalem and Washington, DC. The conferences proved to be a stepping stone into politics and he joined the Israel diplomatic mission to the U.S. in 1982. In 1984 he became ambassador to the United Nations, and in 1988 he was elected to the Knesset. He later served as deputy foreign minister and then spokesman for the prime minister. Netanyahu was elected Likud Party chairman in 1993, and defeated Labor's Shimon Peres for prime minister in 1996. Netanyahu's tenure ended with the 1999 election loss to Barak. |
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