Editing Benjamin Netanyahu (section)

=== First term ===
{{Further|Twenty-seventh government of Israel}}
[[File:P.M. BENJAMIN NETANYAHU SHAKING HANDS WITH PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY CHAIRMAN YASSER ARAFAT (3x4 cropped).jpg|thumb |upright |Netanyahu's first meeting with Palestinian president [[Yasser Arafat]] at the Erez crossing, 4 September 1996]]
A spate of suicide bombings reinforced the Likud position for security. [[Hamas]] claimed responsibility for most of the bombings. As prime minister, Netanyahu raised many questions about many central premises of the [[Oslo Accords]]. One of his main points was disagreement with the Oslo premise that the negotiations should proceed in stages, meaning that concessions should be made to Palestinians before any resolution was reached on major issues, such as the [[status of Jerusalem]], and the amending of the [[Palestinian National Charter]]. Oslo supporters had claimed that the multi-stage approach would build goodwill among Palestinians and would propel them to seek reconciliation when these major issues were raised in later stages. Netanyahu said that these concessions only gave encouragement to extremist elements, without receiving any tangible gestures in return. He called for tangible gestures of Palestinian goodwill in return for Israeli concessions. Despite his stated differences with the Oslo Accords, Prime Minister Netanyahu continued their implementation, but his Premiership saw a marked slow-down in the peace process.{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}

In 1996, Netanyahu and [[Jerusalem]]'s mayor [[Ehud Olmert]] decided to open an exit in the [[Muslim Quarter (Jerusalem)|Arab Quarter]] for the [[Western Wall Tunnel]], which prior prime minister [[Shimon Peres]] had instructed to be put on hold for the sake of peace.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/macleans/israel-opens-disputed-tunnel |title=Israel Opens Disputed Tunnel |last1=Morris |first1=Nomi |last2=Silver |first2=Eric |date=7 October 1996 |work=Maclean's |access-date=9 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020014235/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/macleans/israel-opens-disputed-tunnel |archive-date=20 October 2012}}</ref> This sparked three days of [[Western Wall Tunnel#Northern exit and riots|rioting]] by Palestinians, resulting in dozens of both Israelis and Palestinians being killed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Step Inside The Hidden Tunnels Under Jerusalem's Sacred Western Wall |first=Grace |last=Wyler |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/western-wall-tunnels-israel-jerusalem-temple-photos-2013-1?op=1 |website=Business Insider |date=31 January 2013 |access-date=10 March 2013 |archive-date=9 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409144623/http://www.businessinsider.com/western-wall-tunnels-israel-jerusalem-temple-photos-2013-1?op=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Netanyahu first met Palestinian President Arafat on 4 September 1996. Prior to the meeting, the two leaders spoke by telephone.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9609/04/araf.netan.preview/index.html Arafat, Netanyahu shake hands, begin talks] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227063950/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9609/04/araf.netan.preview/index.html |date=27 February 2021 }} 4 September 1996, CNN</ref> The meetings would continue through Autumn 1996. On their first meeting, Netanyahu said: "I would like to emphasize that we have to take into account the needs and the requirements of both sides on the basis of reciprocity and the assurance of the security and well-being of both Israelis and Palestinian alike." Arafat said: "We are determined to work with Mr. Netanyahu and with his government."<ref>[http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook11/Pages/20%20Joint%20press%20conference%20with%20Prime%20Minister%20Neta.aspx Joint press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu and PA Chairman Arafat, 4 September 1996] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328103013/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/MFADocuments/Yearbook11/Pages/20%20Joint%20press%20conference%20with%20Prime%20Minister%20Neta.aspx |date=28 March 2018 }} Vol. 16: 1996–1997, Ministry of Foreign Affairs</ref> The talks culminated on 14 January 1997, in the signing of the [[Hebron Protocol]].<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9701/14/hebron.late Netanyahu, Arafat shake hands on Hebron accord] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729055654/http://edition.cnn.com/WORLD/9701/14/hebron.late/ |date=29 July 2020 }} 14 January 1997, CNN</ref> The signing of the Hebron Protocol with the [[Palestinian Authority]] resulted in the redeployment of Israeli forces in [[Hebron]] and the turnover of civilian authority in much of the area to the control of the [[Palestinian Authority]].

[[File:Houghton house Netanyahu Albright Arafat.jpg|thumb|Netanyahu sitting with U.S. secretary of state [[Madeleine Albright]] and Palestinian president [[Yasser Arafat]] at the [[Wye River Memorandum]], 1998]]
Eventually, the lack of progress of the peace process led to new negotiations which produced the [[Wye River Memorandum]] in 1998 which detailed the steps to be taken by the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority to implement the earlier Interim Agreement of 1995. It was signed by Netanyahu and PLO chairman [[Yasser Arafat]], and on 17 November 1998, Israel's 120 member parliament, the [[Knesset]], approved the Wye River Memorandum by a vote of 75–19. In a nod to the 1967 [[Khartoum Conference|Khartoum conference]], Prime Minister Netanyahu emphasized a policy of "three no(s)": no withdrawal from the Golan Heights, no discussion of the case of Jerusalem, no negotiations under any preconditions.<ref>Hawas, Akram T. ''The new alliance: Turkey and Israel {{Cite web |url=http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hawas.html |title=Turkey and Israel |access-date=12 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110222112048/http://www.smi.uib.no/pao/hawas.html |archive-date=22 February 2011 |url-status=dead }}''. The fourth Nordic conference on Middle Eastern Studies: The Middle East in globalizing world. Oslo, 13–16 August 1998.</ref>

In 1997, Netanyahu authorized a Mossad operation to assassinate Hamas leader [[Khaled Mashal]] in [[Jordan]], just three years after the two countries had signed a [[Israel–Jordan peace treaty|peace treaty]].<ref name="inc1">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/9730669/Khaled-Meshaal-How-Mossad-bid-to-assassinate-Hamas-leader-ended-in-fiasco.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/9730669/Khaled-Meshaal-How-Mossad-bid-to-assassinate-Hamas-leader-ended-in-fiasco.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Khaled Meshaal: How Mossad bid to assassinate Hamas leader ended in fiasco|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=7 December 2012|access-date=4 May 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The Mossad team, covering as five Canadian tourists, entered Jordan on 27 September 1997 and injected poison into Mashal's ears in a street in [[Amman]].<ref name="inc1"/> The plot was exposed and two agents were arrested by the Jordanian police while three others hid in the Israeli embassy which was then surrounded by troops.<ref name="inc1"/> An angry [[King Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] demanded Israel to give out the antidote and threatened to annul the peace treaty.<ref name="inc"/> Netanyahu relented to the demands after pressure by US President [[Bill Clinton]] and ordered the release of 61 Jordanian and Palestinian prisoners including Sheikh [[Ahmad Yassin]].<ref name="inc1"/> The incident sent the nascent Israeli-Jordanian relations plummeting.<ref name="inc">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DjAyc8Ru7RoC&pg=PA130|title=Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace, Second Edition: Patterns, Problems, Possibilities|author1=Laura Zittrain Eisenberg|author2=Neil Caplan|page=130|publisher=Indiana University Press|date=2010|access-date=4 May 2019|isbn=978-0-253-00457-4|archive-date=20 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240120164209/https://books.google.com/books?id=DjAyc8Ru7RoC&pg=PA130#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

During his term, Netanyahu also began a process of economic liberalization, taking steps towards a free-market economy. Under his watch, the government began selling its shares in banks and major state-run companies. Netanyahu also greatly eased Israel's strict [[foreign exchange controls]], enabling Israelis to take an unrestricted amount of money out of the country, open foreign bank accounts, hold foreign currency, and invest freely in other countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.jta.org/1998/04/29/archive/israel-reforms-economy-on-eve-of-independence-day-2|title=Israel Reforms Economy on Eve of Independence Day|publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency|access-date=18 March 2014|archive-date=24 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924030357/https://www.jta.org/1998/04/29/archive/israel-reforms-economy-on-eve-of-independence-day-2|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/26/world/in-fight-over-privatization-netanyahu-wins-a-round.html|title=In Fight Over Privatization, Netanyahu Wins a Round|date=26 July 1997|work=The New York Times|first=Serge|last=Schmemann|access-date=14 February 2017|archive-date=7 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190607003150/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/26/world/in-fight-over-privatization-netanyahu-wins-a-round.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - P.M. Netanyahu Visiting the Western Wall.jpg|thumb|upright|Netanyahu with his son Yair at the Western Wall in 1998]]
Throughout his term, Netanyahu was opposed by the political left wing in Israel and lost support from the right because of his concessions to the Palestinians in [[Hebron]] and elsewhere, and due to his negotiations with Arafat generally. Netanyahu lost favor with the Israeli public after a long chain of scandals involving his marriage and corruption charges. In 1997, [[Israel Police|police]] recommended that Netanyahu be indicted on corruption charges for influence-peddling. He was accused of appointing an attorney general who would reduce the charges but prosecutors ruled that there was insufficient evidence to go to trial.<ref name=latimes_corruption>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-29-mn-13783-story.html |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=29 March 2000 |first=Tracy |last=Wilkinson |title=Israeli Police Want Netanyahu, Wife Indicted Over Handling of State Gifts |access-date=11 July 2011 |archive-date=11 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111155816/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/mar/29/news/mn-13783 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1999, Netanyahu faced another scandal when the [[Israel Police]] recommended that he be tried for corruption for $100,000 in free services from a government contractor; Israel's attorney general did not prosecute, citing difficulties with evidence.<ref name=corruption>{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/netanyahu-corruption-charges-dropped/ |publisher=[[CBS News]] |date=11 February 2009 |title=Netanyahu Corruption Charges Dropped |access-date=11 July 2011 |archive-date=7 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307181428/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/09/27/world/main236708.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Hamas and Hezbollah====
The months leading up to the 1996 Israeli election were marred by a series of [[Hamas]] terrorist attacks in Israel. After the [[Shin Bet]] assassinated Hamas military leader [[Yahya Ayyash]] on 5 January 1996, [[Mohammed Deif]], now commander of the [[Qassam Brigades]], organized a mass-casualty bombing campaign inside Israel as retaliation, including the [[Dizengoff Center suicide bombing]] in Tel Aviv and the two [[Jaffa Road bus bombings]] in Jerusalem. These operations were, in their scale, scope and sophistication, different and larger than any attacks of the past, and it has been alleged that both Syria and Iran had helped in their planning and financing. According to a report, [[Syria]]n Minister of Defense [[Mustafa Tlass]] instructed [[Ghazi Kanaan]], the commander of Syrian forces in [[Lebanon]], to establish links between [[Hezbollah]] and Hamas fighters, who were then trained both in Lebanon and in [[Iran]] and participated in the retaliatory operations for the murder of Ayyash.<ref name=meib>{{cite journal|last=Gambill|first=Gary C.|title=Sponsoring Terrorism: Syria and Hamas|journal=Middle East Intelligence Bulletin|date=October 2002|volume=4|issue=10|url=http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0210_s1.htm|access-date=7 July 2012|archive-date=5 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205025415/https://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0210_s1.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Inquirer|title=Israel Arrests A Hamas Leader Hassan Salameh Was Shot And Wounded In A Chase. He Is Believed To Have Planned Three Of This Year's Bombings|url=http://articles.philly.com/1996-05-19/news/25624331_1_hassan-salameh-israel-arrests-israeli-troops|accessdate=29 October 2014|agency=INQUIRER WIRE SERVICES|website=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=19 May 1996|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235827/http://articles.philly.com/1996-05-19/news/25624331_1_hassan-salameh-israel-arrests-israeli-troops|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to [[Mike Kelly (journalist)|Mike Kelly]], Hamas operative Hassan Salameh, who planned three of the attacks, was trained in [[Iran]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kelly|first1=Michael|title=Bus on Jaffa Road: A Story of Middle East Terrorism and the Search for Justice|date=2014|publisher=Lyons Press|pages=164–179}}</ref> In 2000, families of American victims of the attacks filed a lawsuit against Tlass, Kanaan and Iranian Minister of Intelligence [[Ali Fallahian]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Weinstein v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 175 F. Supp. 2d 13 {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/weinstein-v-islamic-republic-of-iran-3 |access-date=19 November 2024 |website=casetext.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bodoff v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 424 F. Supp. 2d 74 {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/bodoff-v-islamic-republic-of-iran |access-date=19 November 2024 |website=casetext.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Eisenfeld v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 172 F. Supp. 2d 1 (D.D.C. 2000) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/172/1/2309032/ |access-date=19 November 2024 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref>

According to Israeli journalist [[Ronen Bergman]], Deif's campaign of massive retaliation and the failure of Israeli intelligence services to prevent it, was one of the factors that led to the defeat of Prime Minister [[Shimon Peres]] and the [[Israeli Labor Party]] in the [[1996 Israeli general election]] and the victory of the right-wing [[Likud]] party of Netanyahu, who opposed the [[Oslo peace process]]:

<blockquote>The wave of terror in February and March 1996 was a case study in how suicide attacks could alter the course of history. At the beginning of February, Peres was up twenty points in the polls over his opposition, the conservative hawk Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu. By the middle of March, Netanyahu had closed the gap significantly, and Peres led by only five percentage points. On May 29, Netanyahu won by 1 percent of the vote. This was all due to the terror attacks, which Peres simply couldn't stop. Yahya Ayyash's disciples had ensured the right wing's victory and "derailed the peace process," in the words of the deputy head of the Shin Bet, [[Yisrael Hasson]]. Curiously enough, though, after the election, the attacks stopped for almost a year. Some said this was because of [[Yasser Arafat|Arafat]]'s campaign against Hamas, and the arrest of many members of its military wing. Others believed that Hamas no longer had any reason to carry out suicide attacks, because Netanyahu had already almost completely stopped the peace process, which was the short-term goal of the attacks anyway.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Politics/Rise%20and%20Kill%20First%20The%20Secret%20History%20of%20Israel%E2%80%99s%20Targeted%20Assassinations%20by%20Ronen%20Bergman%20%28z-lib.org%29.pdf|title=Rise and Kill First – The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations|first=Ronen|last=Bergman|date=2018|translator-first=Ronnie|translator-last=Hope|publisher=Random House|location=New York|isbn=9781400069712}}</ref></blockquote>

In 1997 Ali Fallahian, the iranian Intelligence Minister, authorized a new Hamas bombing campaign to further disrupt the peace process, and Hamas leader [[Khaled Meshal]], then living in [[Amman]], Jordan, picked Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, an expert bomb-maker in the [[West Bank]], to construct the bombs, and sent five [[suicide attack|suicide bombers]] to detonate them simultaneously in [[Jerusalem]] on 30 July 1997 ([[1997 Mahane Yehuda Market bombings|Mahane Yehuda market bombings]]) and 4 September 1997 ([[Ben Yehuda Street bombings#1997 (5 killed|Ben Yehuda street bombings)]]), killing 21 Israelis.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/stern-v-islamic-republic-of-iran-2|title=Stern v. Islamic Republic of Iran 2|website=Casetext}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/campuzano-v-islamic-republic-of-iran|title=Campuzano v. Islamic Republic of Iran|website=Casetext}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://casetext.com/case/rubin-v-islamic-republic-of-iran|title=Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran|website=Casetext}}</ref>
According to [[Ronen Bergman]] based on internal IDF sources, Mashal's antidote only secured the release of the two Mossad [[Kidon]] agents that were carrying out the assassination attempt. At least six other Mossad agents involved in the operations were holed up in the Israeli embassy. [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] would only release them if Israel released [[Ahmed Yassin]] and a large number of other Palestinian prisoners. [[Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] needed the demands to be "enough to enable the king to be able to publicly defend the release of the hit team."<ref>{{Cite book |author=Bergman, Ronen |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1107670006 |title=Rise and kill first : the secret history of Israel 's targeted assassinations |isbn=978-1-4736-9474-3 |chapter=Chapter 26 |year=2019 |publisher=John Murray |oclc=1107670006}}</ref>

On the same day that Hamas bombed the Ben Yehuda street in Jerusalem, [[Hezbollah]] executed a well-planned [[Ansariya ambush|ambush]] on the IDF's naval special forces [[Shayetet 13]] in Ansariya, South Lebanon, killing 12 Israeli commandos. On 25 May 1998, the remains of Itamar Ilyah as well as body parts of at least two other soldiers who died in the Ansariya ambush were exchanged for 65 Lebanese prisoners and the bodies of 40 Hizbullah fighters and Lebanese soldiers captured by Israel. Among those returned to Lebanon, were the remains of Hadi Nasrallah, the son of Hezbollah Secretary-General [[Hassan Nasrallah]], who was killed in a clash with IDF a week after the Ansariya ambush.
<ref name=MFA>{{cite news|url = http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/2004/Pages/Background%20on%20Israeli%20POWs%20and%20MIAs.aspx |title=Background on Israeli POWs and MIAs |publisher=MFA |date=26 January 2004 |access-date=4 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131219222646/http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/2004/Pages/Background%20on%20Israeli%20POWs%20and%20MIAs.aspx|archive-date=19 December 2013 }}</ref> Netanyahu called it "one of the worst tragedies that has ever occurred to us".<ref>[[#citeBland|Blanford 2011]], p. 193</ref>

These major Israeli failures against Hamas and Hezbollah under Netanyahu's first premiership and their results in the subsequent releases of imprisoned Palestinian and Lebanese leaders from Israeli jails are thought to have dealt a blow to Netanyahu's rhetoric of a "tough stance" towards enemies of Israel, and to have played a role in his defeat in the [[1999 Israeli general election]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2024/01/26/1226691760/the-long-and-bitter-relationship-between-israels-benjamin-netanyahu-and-hamas|title=The long and bitter relationship between Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas|date=26 January 2024|website=NPR}}</ref>