Benjamin Netanyahu Net Worth - Pulptastic

What is Benjamin Netanyahu’s Net Worth?

Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu, who has served as the country’s prime minister three times, has a net worth of $13 million.

Netanyahu first held the position from 1996 to 1999 and then again from 2009 to 2021. He was re-elected in November 2022.

In between his first two tenures, Netanyahu worked in the private sector and later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance under Ariel Sharon.

However, Netanyahu is a highly controversial figure both domestically and internationally. In 2019, he was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.

Early Life and Education

Benjamin Netanyahu was born on October 21, 1949 in Tel Aviv, Israel as the second of three children of secular Jewish parents Tzila and Benzion. He spent his early years growing up in Jerusalem and attended Henrietta Szold Elementary School. Netanyahu later moved to the United States and attended Cheltenham High School in Pennsylvania, where he participated in chess, debate, and soccer. After graduation, he returned to Israel to join the Israel Defense Forces, serving for five years in the elite special forces unit Sayeret Matkal. He briefly returned to the United States to attend MIT, but also fought in the Yom Kippur War in 1973 before completing his degree in architecture. Netanyahu went on to earn a master’s degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management, but suspended his studies following the death of his brother Yonatan in Operation Entebbe.

Early Career and Political Connections

After graduating from MIT in 1976, Benjamin Netanyahu worked as an economic consultant at the Boston Consulting Group for two years. He then founded the Yonatan Netanyahu Anti-Terror Institute in honor of his late brother upon returning to Israel. Netanyahu served as director of marketing at Rim Industries in Jerusalem from 1980 to 1982, where he established connections with several Israeli politicians. These connections led to his tenure as Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988.

Netanyahu Becomes Prime Minister of Israel

In the 1992 Israeli legislative elections, the Likud party was defeated. Netanyahu, who had recently joined the party, was subsequently elected as the new leader in a primary election. As Leader of the Opposition, he ran for prime minister in the 1996 legislative election. Netanyahu won the election, defeating the incumbent Shimon Peres, and became the youngest-ever prime minister of Israel.

Netanyahu’s First Tenure as Prime Minister

During his first tenure as prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu attempted negotiations with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and ordered the assassination of Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, which inflamed Israel’s relations with Jordan. He also initiated economic liberalization to move Israel toward a free-market economy. However, Netanyahu faced strong opposition from the political left and was embroiled in several major corruption scandals. In the 1999 election, he and the Likud party were defeated by Ehud Barak and his One Israel party.

Netanyahu’s brief retirement from politics

After losing the election in 1999, Benjamin Netanyahu took a break from politics and ventured into the private sector. He worked as a senior consultant for BATM Advanced Communications, an Israeli communications equipment manufacturer, for two years.

Netanyahu’s Political Career

In 2000, Barak’s government collapsed, and Ariel Sharon became Israel’s new prime minister. Netanyahu was encouraged to return to politics and was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs, then as Minister of Finance. During his tenure as Minister of Finance from 2003 to 2005, Netanyahu implemented significant economic reforms that led to economic growth and record-high foreign investment. However, he clashed with Sharon, particularly over the Gaza disengagement plan, and resigned in August 2005.

Netanyahu’s Political Career

After Sharon left Likud to form Kadima, Netanyahu became Leader of the Opposition from 2006 to 2009. He secured his second premiership by putting together a coalition government after Likud finished second to Kadima in the 2009 election and went on to win the 2013 and 2015 elections. In 2020, a coalition agreement for a rotating premiership between Netanyahu and Benny Gantz’s Blue and White alliance was reached but the coalition later collapsed, leading to a new election in 2021. Netanyahu was removed as prime minister in June of that year and became Leader of the Opposition for the third time.

Netanyahu Indicted on Corruption Charges

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the subject of criminal investigations in 2017 for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. In November 2019, he was formally indicted, becoming the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be charged with a crime. If convicted, Netanyahu could face up to 13 years in prison.

Personal Life of Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu married Miriam Weizmann in 1972 and they had a daughter named Noa in 1978. However, he started an affair with Fleur Cates, resulting in the dissolution of his marriage to Weizmann. Netanyahu married Cates in 1981, but they divorced in 1984. He then married Sara Ben-Artzi, a flight attendant, in 1991 and they have two sons named Yair and Avner. Despite being married to Ben-Artzi, Netanyahu had an affair with his PR adviser Ruth Bar during the early years of their marriage.