Ten things you didn't know about Netanyahu

4. He actually studied to be an architect

It's hard to picture Netanyahu designing buildings, but that's exactly what he studied in his youth. After his military service, he was accepted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, one of the world's most prestigious universities, where he completed a bachelor's degree in architecture and later a master's in business administration. According to an article published by the university, Netanyahu was a particularly ambitious student who insisted on taking a heavy course load in order to finish his undergraduate degree quickly. He managed to complete his architecture studies in about two and a half years, even though he had to interrupt his studies for a period to take part in the Yom Kippur War.

5. He worked as a marketing manager for a furniture company

Before becoming a familiar figure in Israeli politics, Netanyahu worked in the business world. After returning to Israel from the United States, he joined the Israeli furniture company Rim Industries and served as its marketing manager between 1980 and 1982. In that role, he marketed the company's products, years before he would need to market political messages to the public. In 1982 he left the business world and was appointed deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in Washington, and from there began to advance in the diplomatic career that would later lead him into politics.

6. He was wounded by an Israeli soldier's bullet during a hostage-rescue operation

In 1972, Netanyahu took part in an operation to free passengers of a Sabena airliner that had been hijacked and landed at Lod Airport. Sayeret Matkal fighters, under the command of Ehud Barak, disguised themselves as technicians, approached the plane and managed to take control of it within minutes. But during the operation, Netanyahu was wounded in his arm, and the surprising detail is that the bullet that hit him was fired by mistake from the weapon of one of his fellow fighters.

7. He nearly completed a doctorate in political science

It turns out that studies in architecture and business administration weren't enough for Netanyahu. While studying at MIT, he also took courses in political science and was even accepted into a doctoral program in the field. But in 1976 his life changed following the death of his older brother, Yoni Netanyahu zt"l, who was killed during Operation Entebbe to rescue hostages in Uganda. Following the family tragedy, Netanyahu returned to Israel, and later began working in hasbara and the fight against terror. He also initiated international conferences on the subject of terrorism, activity that helped him build connections with political figures and public personalities around the world.

8. He married three times - and met Sara by chance at the airport

Sara Netanyahu is the prime minister's third wife. His first wife was Miriam Weizmann, with whom he had his eldest daughter, Noa, and later he married Fleur Cates, but that marriage also ended in divorce. In 1989 he met Sara Ben-Artzi, who was then working as an El Al flight attendant, in a chance encounter at the airport in Amsterdam. According to Sara's account, the two passed each other on moving walkways going in opposite directions, and Netanyahu kept looking at her until he turned his head backward. Later he looked for her on the plane, the two exchanged phone numbers and began dating. In 1991 they married, and later their two sons, Yair and Avner, were born.

9. He was the first prime minister born in the State of Israel

Netanyahu was born on October 21, 1949, in Tel Aviv, only a year and a half after the establishment of the state. When he was first elected prime minister in 1996, he became the first prime minister in Israel's history to have been born after the Declaration of Independence. All the prime ministers who preceded him were born before the founding of the state, and many of them had immigrated to Israel from other countries. Netanyahu, by contrast, was born and raised in a state that was already independent. Since then he has served in several governments, become the prime minister who has served for the longest cumulative period in Israel, and broken additional records.

10. From youngest to oldest: Netanyahu's double record

When Netanyahu was first elected prime minister in 1996, he was only 46 years old and became the youngest prime minister in Israel's history. Thirty years later, he also holds the opposite record: the oldest prime minister to serve in the state. Until recently, the record belonged to Yitzchak Shamir, who ended his term in 1992 at age 76, but Netanyahu has already passed him. Today he turns 77, and if he succeeds in forming a government after the coming elections as well, he will continue to extend his own historic record.