JERUSALEM: He has led multiple wars, outlasted several American presidents, and watched his political obituary written — only to be shredded — more times than any other leader in modern Israeli history.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, faces an international arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Gaza, a long-running corruption trial, and a spiralling multi-front conflict that has dragged on for nearly three years and saw his country’s first direct military confrontations with arch-foe Iran.
Now the silver-haired 76-year-old, nicknamed “Bibi,” is staring down an election that many believe could finally draw the curtain on one of the most consequential and contested careers in Israeli politics — or extend it once again.
Netanyahu has declared that he “intends to win” in the election scheduled for October 27, setting the stage for what could be the defining contest of his political life.
‘MR. SECURITY’
