REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, The son of a prominent historian, Benjamin Netanyahu has a keen sense of Jewish history. In his speeches, he often refers to the Jews' ancient link to the Holy Land and how modern Israel can survive in its hostile region only by never letting down its guard.

Netanyahu followed his older brother Yonatan's footsteps in the elite Sayeret Matkal military commando unit. Yonatan died in 1976 while commanding a raid that freed Israeli and Jewish hostages from a hijacked plane at Entebbe, Uganda. His death became etched in Israeli lore, catapulting the Netanyahu family into the national spotlight.

Netanyahu, often referred to by his nickname, 'Bibi,' spent part of his youth in the United States, where he acquired his American-accented English, and later completed two degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, represented Israel as a diplomat in Washington and ambassador at the United Nations.

In Israel, he rocketed up the Likud ranks and beat out several veterans to take over the party after the retirement of Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir. In 1996, he won a narrow election victory to become Israel's youngest prime minister at age 46.

His three-year term was marred by political deadlock, internal strife and scandals involving his influential wife, Sara. He was voted out and replaced by Barak. He then dramatically retired from politics, wrote his fifth book and made considerable money on the lecture circuit.

He returned to public life in 2002 to serve as Sharon's foreign minister and finance minister. He criticized the 2005 unilateral Gaza withdrawal but voted for it several times in parliament, before resigning from the government to protest the pullout.

After serving as opposition leader, he recaptured the premiership in 2009 and established a broad coalition government that granted him unprecedented political backing. 

"We've seen a political learning curve. He's improved from his first time around," said Efraim Inbar, director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. "He has a legacy when it comes to the economy: more than anyone else in Israel, he is identified with liberalizing the economy and shifting the country toward capitalism."

While according to Shlomo Lipshitz, a 51-year-old religious Jerusalemite who spoke about Netanyahu, "He's not afraid of (President Barack) Obama. He cares about the people of Israel and represents the Jewish and Zionist interest better than anyone else." 

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