77 Years, One Man: The Netanyahu Story

From a hijacked plane in 1972 to Israel's longest-serving prime minister: the life of Benjamin Netanyahu, days before Israel votes on 27 October 2026. Benjamin Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv on 21 October 1949. His father, Benzion, was a historian of the Spanish Inquisition. In 1972, as a 22-year-old Sayeret Matkal commando, he was wounded in the rescue of Sabena Flight 571. In 1976 his older brother Yoni was killed leading the Entebbe raid. He went on to become Israel's ambassador to the UN, its youngest prime minister in 1996, and in 2019 its longest-serving. He has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, which he denies, and faces an ICC arrest warrant, which his office rejects. Donald Trump endorsed him on 18 October 2026. The polls show neither camp with a majority. CHAPTERS 0:00 The bullet: Lod airport, 1972 0:34 The family 1:22 Entebbe 2:04 The rise: Washington, the UN, 1996 2:53 The comeback 4:00 War 5:00 Now SOURCES Sabena raid, his wound: Israel National News, 12 Aug 2015; Israel Hayom, 6 Apr 2012 Entebbe raid: Britannica, "Entebbe raid" 1996 result: JTA; Maclean's Resignation over Gaza pullout: Al Jazeera, 7 Aug 2005 Congress speech: NPR, 3 Mar 2015 Longest-serving PM: AP; JNS, Jul 2019 The three cases: Al Jazeera, 9 Dec 2024 Sixth term: CBS News, 29 Dec 2022 7 October: AP; Times of Israel, 7 Oct 2023 Gaza toll: Gaza Health Ministry via SANA, 19 Oct 2026 ICC warrant: AP, 21 Nov 2024 Iran wars: Al Jazeera, 28 Feb 2026; AP, 18 Oct 2026 Trump endorsement: AP; Al Jazeera, 18 Oct 2026 Polls: Times of Israel, 15 and 22 Oct 2026 PHOTO CREDITS Ron Ilan / IDF Spokesperson's Unit, 1972 (CC BY-SA 3.0); IDF Spokesperson's Unit, 1967 (public domain); Noam Armon / Bamahane, 1986 (CC BY-SA 3.0); Cheltenham High School yearbook, 1964 (public domain); Amos Ben Gershom / GPO, 1997 (CC BY-SA 3.0); Yaakov Saar / GPO, 1996 (CC BY-SA 3.0); GPO, 1996 (CC BY-SA 3.0); Avi Ohayon / GPO, 2009 and 2023 (CC BY-SA 3.0); The White House, 1983, 2009, 2025 (public domain); Office of the Speaker, 2015 (public domain); Presidencia de la Nación Argentina, 2026 (CC BY 2.5 AR). All via Wikimedia Commons. Licences: creativecommons.org/licenses Scenes marked "AI recreation" are AI-generated illustrations of documented events. MUSIC YouTube Audio Library: Hypnosis by Godmode; Icelandic Arpeggios by DivKid. This video uses an AI-generated voice. #Netanyahu #IsraelElection #Israel