Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel's longest-serving prime minister has dominated Israeli politics for two decades while facing corruption charges, overseeing controversial judicial reforms that triggered mass protests in 2023, and leading the military response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack — an offensive in Gaza that killed over 30,000 Palestinians and drew accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice. Netanyahu is either Israel's indispensable security leader or the man who fractured Israeli society and its international standing.