What do you think?
Rate this book
The Netanyahu Years
Benjamin Netanyahu is currently serving his fourth term in office as Prime Minister of Israel, the longest serving Prime Minister in the country’s history. Now Israeli journalist Ben Caspit puts Netanyahu’s life under a magnifying glass, focusing on his last two terms in office.
Caspit covers a wide swath of topics, including Netanyahu’s policies, his political struggles, and his fight against the Iranian nuclear program, and zeroes in on Netanyahu’s love/hate relationship with the American administration, America’s Jews, and his alliances with American business magnates.
A timely and important book, The Netanyahu Years is a primer for anyone looking to understand this world leader.
Caspit covers a wide swath of topics, including Netanyahu’s policies, his political struggles, and his fight against the Iranian nuclear program, and zeroes in on Netanyahu’s love/hate relationship with the American administration, America’s Jews, and his alliances with American business magnates.
A timely and important book, The Netanyahu Years is a primer for anyone looking to understand this world leader.
512 pages, Hardcover
Published July 11, 2017
43 people are currently reading
405 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
January 7, 2018
The Netanyahu Years by Ben Caspit, is an interesting political biography of current (at the time of writing this review) Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu is a divisive politician in Israel, and certainly controversial globally. His rise to political power, and his many mistakes, failures, crashes, and controversies have all haunted him throughout his long political career. Even so, Netanyahu has a charisma that is magnetic to voters, is charming to the media, and has built himself as a representative of right wing elements in Israel encompassing the Israeli settlement organizations, right leaning voters, and Ultra-Orthodox communities. His political career has been like a roller coaster ride; many rapid downturns, and many rapid rises. The man has also made many political enemies, having betrayed many coalitions, ousted many former friends and allies for political purposes, and alienated many of his supporters over the years. Even so, he seems always able to find the next set of allies to benefit him in the moment, making his political career one of both skill and a whole lot of luck.
Netanyahu came from a family with right wing/nationalistic views on the Israeli state. His upbringing was split, with time spent in both Israel and the United States. He attended school in both countries, but was largely seen as an outsider upon returning to Israel. He joined the Israeli army, and quickly became a member of Israeli intelligence units. He played a role in improving Israel's optics overseas; he appeared on US television many times, became an ambassador to the US, and eventually the UN. His TV appearances are often characterized by a charismatic magnetism (Caspit's opinion) and he was often able to charm international bodies and donors into financially and politically supporting Israel.
His early political career began in Likud, a right wing Israeli political party, in the late 1980's. He began to maneuver his way to the top, using his veteran connections with US donors to ensure a well funded leadership campaign. He also hounded then PM Yitzhak Rabin by whipping up Nationalistic support for his leadership campaign, which Caspit claims was influential in Rabin's assassination in 1995 by a right wing extremist opposed to the Oslo accords. Netanyahu's popularity tanked, but only a year later in 1996 he was elected for his first term as Prime Minister after flipping the table and taking advantage of Palestinian unrest to play up his Mr. Security image to the Israeli public. Netanyahu's three years in office were scandal ridden, and led to his defeat in 1999, where he left politics for a few years and worked in the private sector.
All the while, he continued to push for his return to Israeli politics, and was eventually invited back to be Foreign Affairs Minister in 2002. He quickly switched to the post of Minister of Finance, a crafty political trick by his rival Ariel Sharon. The Israeli economy was in shambles, and Sharon figured that he had put Netanyahu in a lose-lose scenario. Either he fixed the economy - giving the PM a big boost in popularity, or he failed, and dumped the blame on Netanyahu. Netanyahu initiated a series of capitalist driven economic reforms, cutting national expenses, slashing government budgets, and encouraging free market reforms. These reforms are often credited to a return to financial stability in Israel, but were deeply unpopular among Israel's Labour supporters. He soon left government, however, over disagreements with Sharon over the Gaza strip withdrawal in 2005. The government subsequently collapsed, Sharon left Likud to found a new political party, and Netanyahu was once again the leader of Likud; and soon the leader of the opposition in 2006 after Likud lost the election. In 2009 he helped form a coalition government which he led, and then took power in the following elections in 2013 and 2015. He has served four terms in the Knesset at the time of writing this review.
Netanyahu is a crafty and wily politician. He is always focused on his goal; attaining high office in Israel. His years of chaotic political maneuvering have made him a masterful politician, and his support among many right wing Israeli voters is solid. Caspit writes about many of the politicians ups and downs; his implication in encouraging nationalistic fervor that resulted in the Rabin assassination, his many accusations of corruption, his poor choices in backing certain policies, and his combative attitude during the tenure of US President Barack Obama. Netanyahu is a staunch supporter of annexation of land in the West Bank, and has often used this as a way to gain supporters from the right. He has also been an staunch opponent of US attempts at a bilateral deal with Iran and the Palestinians. Caspit chronicles Netanyahu's many rises; he has come to the brink of complete obscurity on numerous occasions, but has often been saved through wily politicking, and outright luck.
Caspit's book is interesting, but lacking in certain ways. First, the sourcing in this book is atrocious. There are no in text citations, and the journalistic tone of the book discourages direct quotes - especially about a sitting Prime Minister with a history of political backstabbing. These issues make fact checking difficult, and make Caspit's book seem overly political itself. This is not a cut and dry biography about an interesting and adept politician, but seems to have an agenda. Even so, the political chaos in the book is interesting, and Netanyahu himself still an influential player in Israel and world politics. This is a book for those who love a good political thrill ride; the ups and downs of Netanyahu are very interesting, and the fact that he has seemingly overcome all of them is a feat unto itself. All in all, an interesting biographical look at Israel's current Prime Minister, but one with many flaws in its sourcing system, and an overly journalistic tone, something I dislike. I can hesitantly recommend this book to those who enjoy political biographies, or those looking for a read on Israel, but would recommend a skip for those uninterested in the above.
Netanyahu came from a family with right wing/nationalistic views on the Israeli state. His upbringing was split, with time spent in both Israel and the United States. He attended school in both countries, but was largely seen as an outsider upon returning to Israel. He joined the Israeli army, and quickly became a member of Israeli intelligence units. He played a role in improving Israel's optics overseas; he appeared on US television many times, became an ambassador to the US, and eventually the UN. His TV appearances are often characterized by a charismatic magnetism (Caspit's opinion) and he was often able to charm international bodies and donors into financially and politically supporting Israel.
His early political career began in Likud, a right wing Israeli political party, in the late 1980's. He began to maneuver his way to the top, using his veteran connections with US donors to ensure a well funded leadership campaign. He also hounded then PM Yitzhak Rabin by whipping up Nationalistic support for his leadership campaign, which Caspit claims was influential in Rabin's assassination in 1995 by a right wing extremist opposed to the Oslo accords. Netanyahu's popularity tanked, but only a year later in 1996 he was elected for his first term as Prime Minister after flipping the table and taking advantage of Palestinian unrest to play up his Mr. Security image to the Israeli public. Netanyahu's three years in office were scandal ridden, and led to his defeat in 1999, where he left politics for a few years and worked in the private sector.
All the while, he continued to push for his return to Israeli politics, and was eventually invited back to be Foreign Affairs Minister in 2002. He quickly switched to the post of Minister of Finance, a crafty political trick by his rival Ariel Sharon. The Israeli economy was in shambles, and Sharon figured that he had put Netanyahu in a lose-lose scenario. Either he fixed the economy - giving the PM a big boost in popularity, or he failed, and dumped the blame on Netanyahu. Netanyahu initiated a series of capitalist driven economic reforms, cutting national expenses, slashing government budgets, and encouraging free market reforms. These reforms are often credited to a return to financial stability in Israel, but were deeply unpopular among Israel's Labour supporters. He soon left government, however, over disagreements with Sharon over the Gaza strip withdrawal in 2005. The government subsequently collapsed, Sharon left Likud to found a new political party, and Netanyahu was once again the leader of Likud; and soon the leader of the opposition in 2006 after Likud lost the election. In 2009 he helped form a coalition government which he led, and then took power in the following elections in 2013 and 2015. He has served four terms in the Knesset at the time of writing this review.
Netanyahu is a crafty and wily politician. He is always focused on his goal; attaining high office in Israel. His years of chaotic political maneuvering have made him a masterful politician, and his support among many right wing Israeli voters is solid. Caspit writes about many of the politicians ups and downs; his implication in encouraging nationalistic fervor that resulted in the Rabin assassination, his many accusations of corruption, his poor choices in backing certain policies, and his combative attitude during the tenure of US President Barack Obama. Netanyahu is a staunch supporter of annexation of land in the West Bank, and has often used this as a way to gain supporters from the right. He has also been an staunch opponent of US attempts at a bilateral deal with Iran and the Palestinians. Caspit chronicles Netanyahu's many rises; he has come to the brink of complete obscurity on numerous occasions, but has often been saved through wily politicking, and outright luck.
Caspit's book is interesting, but lacking in certain ways. First, the sourcing in this book is atrocious. There are no in text citations, and the journalistic tone of the book discourages direct quotes - especially about a sitting Prime Minister with a history of political backstabbing. These issues make fact checking difficult, and make Caspit's book seem overly political itself. This is not a cut and dry biography about an interesting and adept politician, but seems to have an agenda. Even so, the political chaos in the book is interesting, and Netanyahu himself still an influential player in Israel and world politics. This is a book for those who love a good political thrill ride; the ups and downs of Netanyahu are very interesting, and the fact that he has seemingly overcome all of them is a feat unto itself. All in all, an interesting biographical look at Israel's current Prime Minister, but one with many flaws in its sourcing system, and an overly journalistic tone, something I dislike. I can hesitantly recommend this book to those who enjoy political biographies, or those looking for a read on Israel, but would recommend a skip for those uninterested in the above.
June 14, 2018
At the time of writing, there are two biographies of Benjamin Netanyahu published in English by different authors*. The Netanyahu Years is the longer of the two. The author, Ben Caspit, is probably the closest thing the world has to a man who has studied Bibi all his life. This is the second book he's written about him, the first being Netanyahu: The Road to Power which was published during Netanyahu's first term in the 90s.
The bulk of this book is given over to an expanded version of Netanyahu: The Road to Power. It is expanded in the sense of extended. It continues the narrative right up until 2016, when I imagine the book was concluded. It touches briefly on the election of Donald Trump, but doesn't continue into his policies. After the narrative section is over, there are two more shorter sections dedicated to the two defining issues of Netanyahu's premiership, his confrontational approach to Iran, and his efforts to bring about peace with the Palestinians. In both cases, the history of these events are examined with a fine tooth comb in positively forensic detail.
Of course, there is no getting away from the fact that the author of this book is a journalist, and not a historian in the academic sense. I don't doubt that someday in the future there will be academic studies of Netanyahu's premiership (in Hebrew, English and I don't doubt Arabic too), but as Netanyahu is still the incumbent prime minister of Israel, it's hard to imagine any works like this emerging any time soon. As history is ongoing, it is journalism, and when one deals with the very recent past the line between the two disciplines is always blurred. Caspit has conducted no shortage of interviews and consulted with numerous sources in compiling this work.
I'd like to try to sum up Netanyahu's personality in my review, but I'm not even sure where to begin. Like everyone, Netanyahu is complex, and Caspit's book goes a long way to showing the many facets of his personality, and over the course of it, I began to feel much more as though I knew the man. Netanyahu operates within a small circle and is extremely difficult to negotiate with. Despite common media portrayals in the west, he is completely secular, and much less hostile to the Palestinian peace process than is popularly believed. He did however, have a near-absolute communication breakdown with Barak Obama which has dramatically impacted Israel's diplomatic clout in the United States (at least up until the recent election).
Every man and his dog has an opinion on the Israel/Palestine problem, but few go out of their way to learn about the characters involved. This is a thorough introduction to the Israeli who looms largest over the recent attempts at peace. Amid all of the emotions involved, it's easy to forget that the decisions are made by complex human beings with complex and competing motivations. Thus books does an admirable job of showing these complexities in Netanyahu.
*The other book on Netanyahu in English is Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu by Anshel Pfeffer.
The bulk of this book is given over to an expanded version of Netanyahu: The Road to Power. It is expanded in the sense of extended. It continues the narrative right up until 2016, when I imagine the book was concluded. It touches briefly on the election of Donald Trump, but doesn't continue into his policies. After the narrative section is over, there are two more shorter sections dedicated to the two defining issues of Netanyahu's premiership, his confrontational approach to Iran, and his efforts to bring about peace with the Palestinians. In both cases, the history of these events are examined with a fine tooth comb in positively forensic detail.
Of course, there is no getting away from the fact that the author of this book is a journalist, and not a historian in the academic sense. I don't doubt that someday in the future there will be academic studies of Netanyahu's premiership (in Hebrew, English and I don't doubt Arabic too), but as Netanyahu is still the incumbent prime minister of Israel, it's hard to imagine any works like this emerging any time soon. As history is ongoing, it is journalism, and when one deals with the very recent past the line between the two disciplines is always blurred. Caspit has conducted no shortage of interviews and consulted with numerous sources in compiling this work.
I'd like to try to sum up Netanyahu's personality in my review, but I'm not even sure where to begin. Like everyone, Netanyahu is complex, and Caspit's book goes a long way to showing the many facets of his personality, and over the course of it, I began to feel much more as though I knew the man. Netanyahu operates within a small circle and is extremely difficult to negotiate with. Despite common media portrayals in the west, he is completely secular, and much less hostile to the Palestinian peace process than is popularly believed. He did however, have a near-absolute communication breakdown with Barak Obama which has dramatically impacted Israel's diplomatic clout in the United States (at least up until the recent election).
Every man and his dog has an opinion on the Israel/Palestine problem, but few go out of their way to learn about the characters involved. This is a thorough introduction to the Israeli who looms largest over the recent attempts at peace. Amid all of the emotions involved, it's easy to forget that the decisions are made by complex human beings with complex and competing motivations. Thus books does an admirable job of showing these complexities in Netanyahu.
*The other book on Netanyahu in English is Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu by Anshel Pfeffer.
May 4, 2018
This is a well researched disheartening account of Netanyahu's reign in Israel. It clearly documents his ongoing attempts to thwart the peace process beginning with his demagogic incitements against Yitzak Rabin. Bibi is convincingly portrayed as a somewhat paranoid narcissist whose goal is to remain in power at all costs. It is a frightening book.
May 21, 2018
Such a fascinating character deserves a less superficial biography. The shallowness with which Mr. Caspit touches upon major events and historical developments is unbelievable.
September 28, 2020
Bibi(and his ancestors) have been in the major key points of modern Israel,
to the point that reading this was for me like reading a history book of modern Israel.
He is considered one of the most influential persons in Israel and perhaps the world.
Bibi is a person that arise strong feeling in every Israeli - either you adore him or hate him, and this book explains exactly why.
to the point that reading this was for me like reading a history book of modern Israel.
He is considered one of the most influential persons in Israel and perhaps the world.
Bibi is a person that arise strong feeling in every Israeli - either you adore him or hate him, and this book explains exactly why.
December 30, 2019
This book was written by a hack. It was also translated by a hack, and by that I can figure that the translator did a good job at translating a not very good book. Ultimately, a book about a person can only be so good if that book is written by someone who has little fondness or respect or sympathy for the person they are writing about. The American middlebrow historian David McCullough, a historian I happen to personally respect, once thought to write a dual biography of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, but upon doing a great deal of research he realized that while he had a great deal of sympathy for John Adams he had less for Thomas Jefferson, and so instead wrote about John Adams, giving him a well-deserved historical re-evaluation, and then write about 1776 as a whole from the research he had done. The author of this book would have been wise to have adopted the same approach and stopped writing about a person that he did not care for and did not respect, because such contempt makes this book far less enjoyable to read and far less important about its subject than it would otherwise be.
This book is almost 500 pages long and it is divided into four parts with an epilogue. The first part of the book provides a biography of the Prime Minister, beginning with a period in 2015 where he won a narrow election and then discussing his grandfather and father's lives and political struggles and his own education and time in the army and consulting experience and his three marriages and efforts to rise within Likud. This takes up about half of the book or so and contains information that is widely known but with the unfriendliest possible interpretation of it. After that the author talks about Bibi's supposedly dangerous relations with right-wing millionaires and other politicians. The third and fourth part of the book talk respectively about Bibi's not unreasonable hatred and fear of Iran and its nuclear program and the unsolvable Palestinian issue. In both of these situations the author finds himself in sympathy with unrealistic leftist positions and simply cannot find it within himself to take these concerns seriously or to hold the Palestinians to the same standard that he holds the Israelis when it comes to being responsible for peace. Obviously, given the author's animus towards its subject, this book is going to be of limited value.
Almost every page of this book oozes with contempt for the current Prime Minister of Israel. The author thinks him a liar above and beyond the general quality of secular politicians in any country. I happen to disagree. The author finds the pessimism of Netanyahu bothersome, while it is a pessimism I share. The author clearly doesn't like Republicans or people who are conservative in general and that happens to be my own political philosophy, such as it is. All of this tends to create a lack of congruence between the author's judgment and my own. The fact that the author praises Obama for his hostility towards Netanyahu and only grudgingly if at all praises the Prime Minister for his efforts in painting Obama as an enemy of Israel, something that was not difficult to do given the unrecognized problems that the contemporary left of the West has with Judaism in general given the blind loyalty that the Western left has towards supposedly oppressed peoples like the Palestinians. All of that tends to make Israel feel unsafe and the author is unfortunate in viewing this as a right-wing problem and not an aspect of reality that needs to be addressed. That is for the loss of everyone involved, including the reader.
This book is almost 500 pages long and it is divided into four parts with an epilogue. The first part of the book provides a biography of the Prime Minister, beginning with a period in 2015 where he won a narrow election and then discussing his grandfather and father's lives and political struggles and his own education and time in the army and consulting experience and his three marriages and efforts to rise within Likud. This takes up about half of the book or so and contains information that is widely known but with the unfriendliest possible interpretation of it. After that the author talks about Bibi's supposedly dangerous relations with right-wing millionaires and other politicians. The third and fourth part of the book talk respectively about Bibi's not unreasonable hatred and fear of Iran and its nuclear program and the unsolvable Palestinian issue. In both of these situations the author finds himself in sympathy with unrealistic leftist positions and simply cannot find it within himself to take these concerns seriously or to hold the Palestinians to the same standard that he holds the Israelis when it comes to being responsible for peace. Obviously, given the author's animus towards its subject, this book is going to be of limited value.
Almost every page of this book oozes with contempt for the current Prime Minister of Israel. The author thinks him a liar above and beyond the general quality of secular politicians in any country. I happen to disagree. The author finds the pessimism of Netanyahu bothersome, while it is a pessimism I share. The author clearly doesn't like Republicans or people who are conservative in general and that happens to be my own political philosophy, such as it is. All of this tends to create a lack of congruence between the author's judgment and my own. The fact that the author praises Obama for his hostility towards Netanyahu and only grudgingly if at all praises the Prime Minister for his efforts in painting Obama as an enemy of Israel, something that was not difficult to do given the unrecognized problems that the contemporary left of the West has with Judaism in general given the blind loyalty that the Western left has towards supposedly oppressed peoples like the Palestinians. All of that tends to make Israel feel unsafe and the author is unfortunate in viewing this as a right-wing problem and not an aspect of reality that needs to be addressed. That is for the loss of everyone involved, including the reader.
June 14, 2022
קודם כל, כדאי לומר שהספר אכן סוקר את דמותו של נתניהו לאורכה ולרוחבה. הוא ביקורתי מאוד, כצפוי מבן כספית, ויסודי מאוד.
ובאיזושהי מידה, זו הייתה קריאה מעניינת, ששפכה אור על אירועים פוליטיים לאורך העשורים האחרונים והעמידה אותם אל מול אירועים אחרים, בקונטקסט מלא. אני מרגיש שאני מסוגל להבין הרבה יותר את אופן הפעולה של נתניהו עכשיו... לא שזה אחד מהכישורים שהיו חסרים לי בחיים.
אבל יש לספר הזה לא מעט חסרונות.
בתור התחלה, ביוגרפיות שנכתבות על אדם בעודו בחיים, ופעיל, הן קטגוריה מעניינת: השנים האחרונות זוכות לדגש מיוחד כי הן קרובות יותר. אירועים קטנים שקורים סמוך למועד הפרסום נתפסים כחשובים, כי פרספקטיבת הזמן לא מאפשרת לסנן אותם עדיין ולהבין אם הם חשובים באמת או שוליים.
בכל מקרה, הספר מדגיש באופן מובהק דברים שנכתבו בסמוך לזמן הפרסום. כיוון שהספר יצא בשתי מהדורות, הראשונה ב2017 והשנייה ב2021, נראה שניתן דגש משמעותי לתקופות שקרובות למועד הפרסומים.
אבל יותר מזה, ברור לחלוטין שהכותב מכוון את הספר אל הקהל העכשווי, בכך שהוא מניח היכרות מועטה יותר עם אישים והקשרים מהעבר, אבל היכרות כמעט מלאה עם שמות ודמויות מהפוליטיקה העכשווית. חוסר האיזון הזה קצת צרם לי.
אבל סך הכל, היה לי נחמד לקרוא, וקצת פחות נחמד להתעורר בלילות מחלומות על תהליך השלום ב2015.
הספר מומלץ עבור כל מי שממש אוהב פוליטיקה ישראלית, מאיזושהי סיבה.
ובאיזושהי מידה, זו הייתה קריאה מעניינת, ששפכה אור על אירועים פוליטיים לאורך העשורים האחרונים והעמידה אותם אל מול אירועים אחרים, בקונטקסט מלא. אני מרגיש שאני מסוגל להבין הרבה יותר את אופן הפעולה של נתניהו עכשיו... לא שזה אחד מהכישורים שהיו חסרים לי בחיים.
אבל יש לספר הזה לא מעט חסרונות.
בתור התחלה, ביוגרפיות שנכתבות על אדם בעודו בחיים, ופעיל, הן קטגוריה מעניינת: השנים האחרונות זוכות לדגש מיוחד כי הן קרובות יותר. אירועים קטנים שקורים סמוך למועד הפרסום נתפסים כחשובים, כי פרספקטיבת הזמן לא מאפשרת לסנן אותם עדיין ולהבין אם הם חשובים באמת או שוליים.
בכל מקרה, הספר מדגיש באופן מובהק דברים שנכתבו בסמוך לזמן הפרסום. כיוון שהספר יצא בשתי מהדורות, הראשונה ב2017 והשנייה ב2021, נראה שניתן דגש משמעותי לתקופות שקרובות למועד הפרסומים.
אבל יותר מזה, ברור לחלוטין שהכותב מכוון את הספר אל הקהל העכשווי, בכך שהוא מניח היכרות מועטה יותר עם אישים והקשרים מהעבר, אבל היכרות כמעט מלאה עם שמות ודמויות מהפוליטיקה העכשווית. חוסר האיזון הזה קצת צרם לי.
אבל סך הכל, היה לי נחמד לקרוא, וקצת פחות נחמד להתעורר בלילות מחלומות על תהליך השלום ב2015.
הספר מומלץ עבור כל מי שממש אוהב פוליטיקה ישראלית, מאיזושהי סיבה.
April 22, 2019
A very interesting bio of Netanyahu by an Israeli journalist who clearly hates him. We learn of Bibi's youth, much of which was spent in the U.S., where he excelled at everything: academics, and fighting, as an officer in an elite squadron. When his brother is killed during the famed raid at Entebbe, it is up to Bibi to carry the banner of an esteemed family which has always been devoted to Zionism.
We learn that Netanyahu is a phenomenal politician and campaigner who relies more on speeches to set hs legacy -- as opposed than action. Also of the missed opportunities his hesitation to act created to establish a true lasting peace with the Palestinians.
This is a man seemingly more interested in power than running a country; whose wife plays such an integral part that she is his co-PM.
Not an objective portrait by any means, but the author does back up his views with extensive quotes from others who have surrounded Netanyahu during his long tenure as PM.
We learn that Netanyahu is a phenomenal politician and campaigner who relies more on speeches to set hs legacy -- as opposed than action. Also of the missed opportunities his hesitation to act created to establish a true lasting peace with the Palestinians.
This is a man seemingly more interested in power than running a country; whose wife plays such an integral part that she is his co-PM.
Not an objective portrait by any means, but the author does back up his views with extensive quotes from others who have surrounded Netanyahu during his long tenure as PM.
June 12, 2018
When reading any type of political or documentary it is important to me to feel that I truly understand the main character/theme. It should be noted that I read the advanced uncorrected proof. The author, Ben Caspit, put a tremendous amount of energy into researching the book. I felt that I lived every year of Netanyahu's life right along with him. This material is highly detailed and covers a vast amount of in-depth reporting; yet the author never interviewed his subject. How he was able to obtain so much information about his subject was amazing. Normally one who glosses over political material, I was impressed with the exceptional length the author went to in bringing Netanyahu's thought process to the forefront. Readers would be warned that this is a long book, but then, what in-depth reporting is concise. Quite an eye-opening experience.
October 28, 2019
The Italian political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli once said that every man is potentially corruptible, even if they are good and well educated. This quote, “People can be easily corrupted,” printed on the inside cover page of this fascinating biography of the current prime minister of Israel, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu. Nowadays, when Mr. Netanyahu is facing allegations of being involved in bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, Caspit’s book is a rare window into the world of the famous politician, which many relate to as the unrivaled leader of Israel. However, something happened to him during his 10-years term as Prime Minister, and he became – in Caspit’s words – the modern version of Louis the Great – He is the state, the state’s best interest is Netanyahu's best interest, and without him the country of Israel is hopeless.
September 30, 2025
I would give this biography a 3.5, mostly because I came away still feeling I don't know or understand Netanyahu. The biography covers policy and early years fairly well. We see his relationship with his brother, but the author skims over his brother's death in Uganda. There is nothing redeeming about Netanyahu, and I am suspicious of any book that can't find any positive side to someone. Netanyahu is unlikable. Caspit mentions three times that people feel he is on the autism scale. There is no feeling of unpeeling layers of his behaviour. The most we learn of him outside of politics is that he loved cigars. There still feels like there is more to be said. Why does he keep coming to power? That question was never answered for me.
October 26, 2017
I found this book interesting and informative, but it took me a long time to finish. Personally, I think Sarah, his wife, is a more complex character and I'd like to know more about her. Netanyahu's background and rise to fame is laid out well. The author doesn't seem to like him. I wish that he had written more about Trump's visit to Israel. I suspected the two would get along, but Sarah's fawning reaction to Melania is sickening.
May 26, 2024
A very thorough book with many revelations. Netanyahu is an extremely talented, smart, courageous and competitive man. But he also has attributes that make him in effective in many ways. Maybe that’s the profile of a politician, who knows.
February 11, 2020
I really don't enjoy biographies where the author doesn't like his subject and that's the case here.
May 14, 2022
Better title: why I don't like Netanyahu. I enjoyed listening to it, but it's very one sided. I'd like to listen to another book to get the other side of the story.
January 26, 2024
A well written (if biased) biography of an evil man.
Read
July 28, 2024Post October 7th, it made me despair of the future. Netanyahu is not the leader who can help heal Israel.
January 11, 2022
A superficial study of an interesting subject.
The book is generally readable, and there are some interesting biogrphical tidbits scattered throughout. However it fails both as a psychological exercise and as a historical study.
The book is generally readable, and there are some interesting biogrphical tidbits scattered throughout. However it fails both as a psychological exercise and as a historical study.
September 22, 2018
Se trata de un análisis profundamente interesante no solamente de Bibi Netanhayu y su constante actitud frente a las distintas situaciones que se han ido presentando en Israel a lo largo de las últimas décadas, sino también del mundo de la política en general. Me ha ayudado a comprende mejor su relación con Sara Netanyahu; se trata de una familia claramente matriarcal. Lamentablemente, no me ha servido para construir una base de esperanza de cambio en el corto plazo dado que, incluso cuando no haya más "Bibi" en el próximo gobierno, el hecho de que haya conseguido el poder durante tanto tiempo una persona con tales desequilibrios narcisistas, es un claro signo de alarma para alguien cuya visión del mundo es tan diferente como es mi caso. Apasionante como análisis psicológico, político y social de lo que es el uso y abuso de poder en la sociedad moderna.
October 11, 2020
Although I can not remember the way the government form is , It certainly is an eye opener to the personality of Netanyahu and how he manipulated and treated people in and around the government and American diplomats/politians.
Amazing how he has remained to long in power.
Amazing how he has remained to long in power.
November 16, 2020
אהבתי את הספר. עם זאת, הוא קצת יותר מדי צהוב וקצת פחות מדי היסטורי לטעמי.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews