Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, was born into a family deeply steeped in ideology and scholarship. His personal history is profoundly shaped by the convictions of his parents and the enduring bond with his brothers.
To understand Netanyahu, one must look at the formidable influence of his father, the historian Benzion Netanyahu, and the lifelong impact of his brother, the war hero Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu. Their beliefs and experiences have fundamentally shaped the worldview and political trajectory of the prominent Israeli leader.
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The Formative Influence of His Parents
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s dad and mom were not just family figures but powerful ideological forces in his life. His father, Benzion Netanyahu (originally Benzion Mileikowsky), was a historian specializing in the Jewish Golden Age of Spain and a fervent Zionist activist. Born in Warsaw, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, where he hebraized the surname to “Netanyahu,” meaning “God has given.”
Benzion served as the personal secretary to Ze’ev Jabotinsky, the foundational thinker of Revisionist Zionism, which advocated for a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River and believed in the necessity of force to establish Israel. Benzion held a lifelong, uncompromising stance toward the Arab population, views he impressed upon his children. A noted scholar who edited the Encyclopedia Judaica, he felt sidelined by the academic establishment, which contributed to the family moving to the United States for periods during Benjamin’s childhood.
Netanyahu’s mother, Tzila Segal (also spelled Cela or Zila), was born in Petah Tikva, in what was then the Ottoman Empire’s Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem. Her own family had a history of migration, moving to Palestine from Minneapolis in 1911, after originally relocating there from Lithuania in the 1870s. Tzila was trained in law at Gray’s Inn in London. While Benzion was often secluded in his study with his work, Tzila was primarily responsible for raising their three sons in Jerusalem and during their time in the United States, instilling in them the values of their heritage.
Siblings, Ethnicity, and Immediate Family
Benjamin Netanyahu was the middle of three boys, and the relationships within this trio were defining. His older brother, Yonatan “Yoni” Netanyahu, was a figure of immense admiration and would later become a national hero in Israel. Yoni was the only Israeli soldier who lost his life during the successful 1976 raid on Entebbe Airport in Uganda to rescue hostages from a hijacked plane.
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His death had a profound effect on Benjamin, who has described it as the event that “marked the birth of his political life” and prompted him to leave his job in the private sector to return to Israel. Netanyahu’s younger brother is Iddo Netanyahu, who, like Benjamin, also served in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit and was present during the Yom Kippur War.
Regarding ethnicity, Benjamin Netanyahu’s background is a blend of Ashkenazi Jewish roots. His ancestry is primarily Polish, Lithuanian, and Belarusian. Despite the family’s predominantly Ashkenazi heritage, Netanyahu has stated that a DNA test revealed he also has some Sephardic ancestry and that he claims descent from the Vilna Gaon, a prominent 18th-century Jewish scholar from Vilnius.
In his own personal life, Netanyahu has been married three times. He is currently married to Sara Netanyahu, a child psychologist, with whom he has two sons, Yair and Avner. He also has a daughter, Noa, from a previous marriage.
