Benjamin Netanyahu didn't return to the Prime Minister's Office on March 31, 2009, all by himself. Surrounded by Likud members hungry for a return to power, then-senior ministers Benny Begin and Dan Meridor, two former IDF chiefs of staff, Moshe Ya'alon (then with the Likud) and Ehud Barak as chairman of the Labor party, and others, Netanyahu established the forum of the six. Leaning publicly on this group, he began his second journey as the leader of the Jewish state.
The pundits described him as a weak leader whose government was destined to fall, but this was just the first of many journalistic prognostications he would eventually prove wrong. Over time, either by his own hand or seemingly divine intervention, senior officials around him, within Likud and out, vanished from the political scene. Similar to David Ben-Gurion, who he has now passed as the longest-serving prime minister in Israeli history, Netanyahu made life miserable for his rivals; and much like Israel's first prime minister, he repelled the bevy of political players who challenged him: Tzipi Livni, Isaac Herzog, Shaul Mofaz, Yair Lapid, Benny Gantz, and Avi Gabbay, to name just a few.
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As a giant among mere men, he vanquished them all, outmaneuvering them with greater skill and determination.
A global success story
Netanyahu's political success domestically contributed to the unprecedented status he reached internationally. The parade of 13 state leaders who visited him in the shoddy hotel in Liberia; the extraordinary welcomes he received in India and Brazil; the royal treatment in China and Russia; and of course the alliance with US President Donald Trump; all a partial illustration of the status to which he ascended. Every new member in the unofficial club of world leaders looks right and left and wonders: "Who can I ask for advice? Who can I learn from? Who here is a success?" For many of them, Netanyahu is the answer. It's doubtful there is another world leader who within a one-week period can visit Washington and Moscow, and return from both capitals with incredible achievements.
Netanyahu was elected time and again because of his impressive presentation, an abundance of charisma, rhetorical talents, eloquent English, high intelligence, general knowledge, and an unwavering worldview. These are the traits that made him more popular in the US than some of its presidents – we'll get back to this point – and a global leader. No Israeli prime minister has ever been more recognizable on the world stage. Navigating the crisis with the Foreign Ministry, which was supposed to expand ties and forge diplomatic breakthroughs, Netanyahu himself became the face of Israel.
The economic boom
The persona came with policy. We've already forgotten, but the first challenge Netanyahu traversed upon returning to power in 2009 was the global economic crisis. While the US and Europe entered a tailspin following the collapse of the US real estate market, Israel's star shone brightly. There was none of the deceleration, recession or bankruptcy that Europe and the US are still dealing with – rather an unprecedented economic boom. While Obama and Europe took out giant loans that future generations will have to pay for, old-fashioned Netanyahu adhered to conservatism and caution.
This approach also helped him overcome the next challenge he faced. Obama and Europe were enraptured by the waves of violence and jihadism of the "Arab spring," while Netanyahu responded with dispassion and suspicion. When it became clear he was right, Israel again stood out as an island of stability and stately wisdom.
All this, of course, leads us to the Iranian nuclear program. The "butterfly effect" initiated by Netanyahu from tiny Israel – accompanied by thinly veiled hints of a willingness to use force and by leveraging his unprecedented popularity with the American public – set in motion a global process that forced the US and Europe to face the Iranians. Later, in 2015, as the second foreign leader in history (after Winston Churchill) to address both houses of the US Congress for the third time, Netanyahu stepped onto Obama's home court to thwart the nuclear deal. Whether you loved the daring gambit or hated it – and there were plenty of both – Netanyahu was impossible to ignore.
Highlighting Jewishness
And there's one more reason, perhaps the most important of them all: Jewishness. Everywhere he went and at every opportunity, and not only publicly, Netanyahu proudly waved the banner of his nation and its scriptures, its uniqueness and complex history.
Two years ago, in a closed-door meeting with the leaders of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia, he incredibly laid out his view that Europe's future depends on a positive relationship with Israel:
"Europe is severing itself from its roots [by distancing itself from Israel, A.K.]. … Europe is weakening its own security when it weakens Israel; it is weakening its (technological) progress by minimizing its ties to Israeli entrepreneurship. … Europe must decide if it wants to live and prosper, or rot away and disappear. I'm not politically correct … but the truth is the truth: Europe's security, its economic future – these two concerns lead to a change of policy toward Israel."
Thus, the person first elected under the slogan "Netanyahu is good for the Jews," in time raised the stock of the Jewish state across the globe. Soon we will find out if Israel wants Netanyahu to beat Ben-Gurion by several months or years.
