What is Benjamin Netanyagu’s net worth? His long-lasting tenure as Israel’s leader bears such a question.
Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the most mentioned names in recent days, as the clash against Hamas claims an increasing amount of Palestinian lives. At the moment there are over 7 thousand deceased people in the Gaza Strip. The ongoing events have dropped Israel’s veil as "the only democracy in the Middle East". Once the mask has fallen, there are those who are only now discovering the shadows behind Benjamin Netanyahu and his long work in Israel, which has continued almost without interruption since 2009.
Who is Benjamin Netanyahu and why is he such a controversial character (often even according to Israeli media)?
Benjamin Netanyahu: the life and politics of King Bibi
Benjamin Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi, was born in Tel Aviv on October 21, 1949. Bibi is of half Polish and half Belarusian origins. His father Benzion Netanyahu was a history professor in Philadelphia, which allowed the family to move to the United States.
Having returned to Israel to carry out his military service, Benjamin Netanyahu found himself operating in the Israel Defense Forces during the "War of Attrition" between Israel and Egypt. He will return to Israel to fight in the Yom Kippur War.
Netanyahu took the first steps in politics in 1988 when he joined the center-right party Likud. With the slogan “A secure peace” Netanyahu won the 1996 elections and formed a center-right majority.
King Bibi moved the bar further and further to the right, trying to strengthen alliances with the religious parties that are so influential in the country. The friendship with Donald Trump was also a manifesto of Netanyahu’s policies, such as the US recognition of the state of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
What is Netanyahu’s political orientation?
Netanyahu has been the leader of Likud since 2006. To understand Bibi and his political orientation, we cannot shy away from explaining what the Likud party represents. In fact this is a right-wing liberal nationalist party, which has its roots in the reformist Zionist movement. After the division in 2005 - the key event being Sharon’s decision to withdraw from Gaza - Benjamin Netanyahu became the leader of Likud and brought it further to the right. In the latest elections, Netanyahu won alongside his far-right ally Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of religious Zionism.
Bibi has always been a controversial character with an easy compromising statement. Just think of his outbursts about Hitler, when he said he "did not want to expel the Jews". Hitler, according to Netanyahu, had been convinced to carry out a massacre by the Palestinians, specifically by the then Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, fearful of the arrival of Jews in Palestine under the British mandate. A statement he soon regretted, finding himself under an avalanche of both external and internal criticism.
Recently, with the beginning of what has been defined as "revenge" for the actions of Hamas, Netanyahu has gone so far as to make rather absurd and war criminal statements (compared to another leader who began a conflict, i.e. Vladimir Putin). The worst, later deleted, refers to the children of light (Israelis) and the children of darkness (Palestinians). Bibi’s politics at the moment are in fact constructing a specific narrative: Palestinian women carry evil in their womb, Palestinian children are the future evil and are therefore worth less than Israeli people. A dehumanization - which also passes through the reels of young Israelis dressed as Palestinian martyrs, fake wounded, dancing - which justifies the violence. Everything to defeat Hamas or perhaps everything to defeat Gaza (where 2 million civilians live, already subjected to daily limitations such as food, water, lack of care), as the former Israeli ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar said.
The Netanyahu government is the one uttering these sentences (himself included):
- “I have killed many Arabs in my life, there is nothing wrong with that” (Naftali Bennet, former prime minister);
- “Whoever kills a Palestinian is a hero and will have my total support” (Itamar Ben-Gvir, Minister of National Security);
- “We are fighting with human animals, we must act accordingly” (Yoav Galant, Minister of Defense)
- “They are all our enemies and we must have their blood on our hands. It also applies to mothers who otherwise will grow other little snakes" (Ayelet Shaked, former Minister of the Interior)
- “Beat them, massacre them until the pain is unbearable” (Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister)
Netanyahu’s earnings and investments
To know Benjamin Netanyahu’s earnings we have to go back to 2014 when he declared he had a net salary of 17,645 shekels, approximately 4,350 USD. Today’s salary is around 13,000 USD (already converted) per month, for annual earnings of almost 156,000 USD.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s total net worth is estimated at 13 million USD.
Netanyahu recently said that Israel is preparing for the invasion of Gaza, but above all that "Hamas is ISIS and ISIS is Hamas" (which is not true, there are substantial differences). However, Bibi’s pride in the invasion does not make us forget who financed the group that attacked Israel. In fact “Benyamin Netanyahu pays funds to Hamas, and we pay the price”. Palestinian President Abu Mazen and others say this. An Israeli newspaper also broke the news, explaining that Israel has allowed suitcases containing millions in Qatari cash to enter Gaza through its crossings since 2018.
Original article published on Money.it Italy 2023-10-27 18:06:17. Original title: Chi è Benjamin Netanyahu, orientamento politico e quanto guadagna il leader di Israele
