Benjamin Netanyahu

Benjamin Netanyahu first became prime minister in 1996, at 46 Israel's youngest prime minister at the time and the first chosen in a direct popular vote, narrowly defeating Shimon Peres. He represented a more skeptical approach toward the Oslo process and emphasized security, reciprocity, and caution in negotiations with Yasser Arafat and the PLO.

His first term included the Hebron Protocol of January 1997, which divided control of the city, and the Wye River Memorandum of October 1998, which provided for further Israeli withdrawals, but also deep political conflict: both his right-wing partners and the opposition attacked him, his coalition broke apart, and he lost the early election of 1999 to Ehud Barak. From a timeline perspective, Netanyahu's first term marks the rise of a new media-focused, security-centered style of Israeli leadership.