Benzion Netanyahu
Biography
In 1944, Netanyahu married Tzila Segal (1912–2000), whom he met during his studies in Palestine. The couple had three sons: Yonatan (1946–76), former commander of Sayeret Matkal, who was killed in action leading Operation Entebbe; Benjamin (b. 1949), Israeli Prime Minister (1996–99, 2009–2021, 2022–); and Iddo (b. 1952), a physician, author, and playwright. The family lived on Haportzim Street in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Katamon. Tzila Netanyahu died in 2000.
Zionist activism
Benzion Netanyahu studied medieval history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. During his studies, he became active in Revisionist Zionism, a movement of people who had split from their mainstream Zionist counterparts, believing those in the mainstream were too conciliatory to the British authorities governing Palestine, and espousing a more militant, right-wing Jewish nationalism than the one advocated by the Labour Zionists who led Israel in its early years. The revisionists were led by Jabotinsky, whose belief in the necessity of an "iron wall" between Israel and its Arab neighbors had influenced Israeli politics since the 1930s. Netanyahu became a close friend of Abba Ahimeir.
Zionist activism
Netanyahu was co-editor of Betar, a Hebrew monthly (1933–34), then editor of the Revisionist Zionist daily newspaper Ha-Yarden in Jerusalem (1934–35) until the British Mandate authorities ordered the paper to cease publication. He was editor at the Zionist Political Library, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, 1935–1940.
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