Bibi

The first English-language biography of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the world's most controversial political figures

For many in Israel and elsewhere, Benjamin Netanyahu is an anathema, an embarrassment, even a precursor of Donald Trump. But he continues to dominate Israeli public life. How can we explain his rise, his hold on Israeli politics, and his outsized role on the world's stage?

In Bibi, journalist Anshel Pfeffer reveals the formative… (more)

The first English-language biography of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the world's most controversial political figures

For many in Israel and elsewhere, Benjamin Netanyahu is an anathema, an embarrassment, even a precursor of Donald Trump. But he continues to dominate Israeli public life. How can we explain his rise, his hold on Israeli politics, and his outsized role on the world's stage?

In Bibi, journalist Anshel Pfeffer reveals the formative influence of Netanyahu's grandfather and father, who bequeathed to him a brand of Zionism integrating Jewish nationalism and religious traditionalism. Pfeffer argues that we must understand Netanyahu as embodying the triumph of the underdogs in the Zionist enterprise over the secular liberals who founded the nation. As he demonstrates in this penetrating biography, Netanyahu's Israel is a hybrid of ancient phobia and high-tech hope, tribalism, and globalism--just like the man himself.