Bibi

By: Anshel Pfeffer

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

A deeply reported biography of the scandal-plagued Israeli prime minister, showing that we cannot understand Israel - its history, present, and future - without first understanding the life and worldview of the man who leads it

Benjamin Netanyahu is embroiled in numerous scandals, all of his own making, and may soon be ousted from the office he has held longer than any prior Israeli Prime Minister outside of David Ben Gurion. But Bibi, as he is known by friend and foe alike, is no stranger to controversy. For many in Israel and elsewhere, he is an embarrassment, a threat to democracy, even a precursor to Donald Trump. He nevertheless continues to dominate Israeli public life - and he may yet survive his current crises, the most challenging of his career.

How can we explain Netanyahu's rise, his hold on Israeli politics, and his outsized role on the world's stage?

In Bibi, the Haaretz journalist Anshel Pfeffer argues that we must view Netanyahu as representing the triumph of the underdogs in the Zionist enterprise. Born in 1949, one year after the state of Israel itself, Netanyahu came of age in a nation dominated by liberal, secular Zionists. Yet Netanyahu's grandfather and father bequeathed to him a brand of Zionism integrating Jewish nationalism and religious traditionalism, and he identified with the groups at the margins of Israeli society: right-wing Revisionists, orthodox, Mizrahi Jews, and small-time professionals living in the new towns and cities dotting the Israeli landscape. Netanyahu cultivated each faction individually and then fused them into a coalition that has frequently proven unstoppable in Israeli politics.

Netanyahu is also a child of America, where he spent many years as a young man, and where he learned the techniques of modern political campaigns as well as the necessity of controlling the media cycle. The product of the affluent East Coast Jewish community and the Reagan era, Netanyahu's politics and worldview were formed as much by American Cold War conservatism as by his family's hardline right-wing Zionism.

As Pfeffer demonstrates in this penetrating biography, Netanyahu's influence will endure even if his career soon comes to an end. The Israel he has helped make is a hybrid of ancient phobia and high-tech hope, tribalism and globalism - just like the man himself.

©2018 Anshel Pfeffer (P)2018 Basic Books

Critic reviews

"In a career that could yet make him the longest serving Prime Minister in Israel's history, Benjamin Netanyahu turned out to be much more than the temporary speed bump in Israeli politics his critics once imagined. In this lively and trenchant biography, Anshel Pfeffer explains why and how Bibi came to dominate and embody the changing face of the remarkable and divided nation he still leads." (Aaron David Miller, vice-president and Middle East program director at the Woodrow Wilson Center)

"A perceptive history of a beleaguered nation and one deeply flawed leader." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Certain to elicit both consternation and praise, Anshel Pfeffer's Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu is a fascinating exploration of the complex ideological and familial foundations that continue to shape the thinking and governing of the man who may soon become Israel's longest serving Prime Minster. This is a book that will lead both Bibi's friends as well as his foes to see him a new - and infinitely more nuanced - light." (Daniel Gordis, author of Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn)

Very thought provoking.

The complex modern history, and politics of this new country was made easier for me to grasp. This is a well written and researched.

Extremely Biased

While I enjoyed the review of Bibi’s life story, it was abundantly clear throughout that the author was abundantly disdainful of him!

Compulsory reading on contemporary Israel

Anshel Pfeffer, in an all inclusive, in depth, and valuable timely biography of Benjamin Netanyahu. Pfeffer shares the lifespan, events and incidents that influenced Israels internationally controversial leader, that has been elected and lead by the majority of Israelis over the last 10 years.
If you want to understand Israel, this book is compulsory reading.

Good overview of Bibi's life.

very interesting walk-through of Bibi's life and family, why he sees the world the way he does.
the only problem is that he is not done yet, so it's not complete. good read for understanding Bibi.

Very interesting and seems balanced as well

A very detailed and well structured story, helpful in understanding both Israel and Netanyahu indeed.

good read very informative but

I really enjoyed reading this book A lot it kept my attention the whole time and was presented very well. at the very end monologue it was apparent how much the author really didn't like Netanyahu. so I guess that has to slant the content of the book due to his views.

Pfeffer hates him

Really an irritatingly biased biography. Can’t find a way to delete it, also annoying. Will not finish it.

Very biased.

Lookes like the writer really hates the subject of his book. if you are looking for an objective honest biography, better to look elsewere.