<p class="title">Benjamin Netanyahu has become Israel's longest-serving prime minister with his right-wing leadership and by repeatedly besting rivals with deft political moves, but he will have to pull another rabbit out of the hat in Tuesday's elections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 69-year-old is fighting his second election in five months with a potential corruption indictment looming.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After April polls, Netanyahu suffered one of the biggest defeats of his political career when he failed to form a coalition although his Likud party along with its right-wing and religious allies came out on top.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The attorney general has announced his intention to indict Netanyahu on fraud, bribery and breach of trust charges pending a hearing, expected to be held soon after the election in early October.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many expect him to seek immunity if re-elected.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu has spent years outlasting opponents and he could well do so again.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He has campaigned with a combination of divisive populism and attempts to portray himself as a world statesman by talking up his relationships with foreign leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">True to form, he issued a last-minute pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if re-elected, which many saw as a play for vital right-wing nationalist votes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">That accompanied by his stated intention to annex Israeli settlements in the wider West Bank could effectively end any remaining hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The burly son of a historian with his familiar grey comb-over has entrenched himself at the top so firmly he has been labelled "King Bibi", using his nickname dating to childhood.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Few doubt his political effectiveness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Much of his popularity has to do with another nickname -- "Mr. Security" -- in a country where such issues are always on voters' minds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu frequently talks openly about Israel's air war in Syria against Israel's archfoe Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He generally avoids talking about the Palestinians apart from security operations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 less than 18 months after Israel's creation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He and his wife Sara have two sons, and he has a daughter from a previous marriage.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The son of a history professor active in Israeli right-wing politics, Netanyahu grew up partly in the United States.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He attended the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and with his fluent, American-accented English has appeared on television speaking forcefully in defence of Israel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He performed his Israeli military service with an elite unit and was wounded in combat, but another family member's service affected him more deeply.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 1976, his brother Yonatan died in an Israeli commando raid to rescue hostages at Entebbe airport in Uganda.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu has called the operation "a very dramatic national experience" and "one of great personal consequence".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu's career took off when he was posted to the Israeli embassy in Washington and later served as ambassador to the United Nations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He became Israel's youngest prime minister in 1996, at 46, but was defeated three years later.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu would return to power in 2009 and has remained in office ever since.</p>
<p class="title">Benjamin Netanyahu has become Israel's longest-serving prime minister with his right-wing leadership and by repeatedly besting rivals with deft political moves, but he will have to pull another rabbit out of the hat in Tuesday's elections.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 69-year-old is fighting his second election in five months with a potential corruption indictment looming.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After April polls, Netanyahu suffered one of the biggest defeats of his political career when he failed to form a coalition although his Likud party along with its right-wing and religious allies came out on top.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The attorney general has announced his intention to indict Netanyahu on fraud, bribery and breach of trust charges pending a hearing, expected to be held soon after the election in early October.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Many expect him to seek immunity if re-elected.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu has spent years outlasting opponents and he could well do so again.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He has campaigned with a combination of divisive populism and attempts to portray himself as a world statesman by talking up his relationships with foreign leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.</p>.<p class="bodytext">True to form, he issued a last-minute pledge to annex the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank if re-elected, which many saw as a play for vital right-wing nationalist votes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">That accompanied by his stated intention to annex Israeli settlements in the wider West Bank could effectively end any remaining hopes for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The burly son of a historian with his familiar grey comb-over has entrenched himself at the top so firmly he has been labelled "King Bibi", using his nickname dating to childhood.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Few doubt his political effectiveness.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Much of his popularity has to do with another nickname -- "Mr. Security" -- in a country where such issues are always on voters' minds.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu frequently talks openly about Israel's air war in Syria against Israel's archfoe Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He generally avoids talking about the Palestinians apart from security operations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu was born in Tel Aviv in 1949 less than 18 months after Israel's creation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He and his wife Sara have two sons, and he has a daughter from a previous marriage.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The son of a history professor active in Israeli right-wing politics, Netanyahu grew up partly in the United States.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He attended the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and with his fluent, American-accented English has appeared on television speaking forcefully in defence of Israel.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He performed his Israeli military service with an elite unit and was wounded in combat, but another family member's service affected him more deeply.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In 1976, his brother Yonatan died in an Israeli commando raid to rescue hostages at Entebbe airport in Uganda.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu has called the operation "a very dramatic national experience" and "one of great personal consequence".</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu's career took off when he was posted to the Israeli embassy in Washington and later served as ambassador to the United Nations.</p>.<p class="bodytext">He became Israel's youngest prime minister in 1996, at 46, but was defeated three years later.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Netanyahu would return to power in 2009 and has remained in office ever since.</p>