Bibi

Anshel Pfeffer has covered Israeli politics and global affairs for two decades. He is a senior correspondent and columnist for Haaretz and the Israel correspondent for the Economist. He lives in Jerusalem.

"Superbly timed...insightful...Pfeffer is one of the smartest and most prolific of Israel's younger generation of journalists...Bibi, obsessed by hostile 'left-wing media,' complained preemptively that this biography would be a cartoon. It is not: it fleshes out a superficially familiar and invariably quotable figure with a wealth of background information and analysis that provide necessary and, of course, often highly critical context...This book is a necessary contribution to understanding a high-profile and internationally contentious figure and the fractured country he has led for so long."—Ian Black, New York Times
"[Pfeffer is] one of Israel's bestinformed writers...[Bibi is] a must read for everyone who is interested inthe undercurrents of today's Israeli society"—Tom Segev, Economist
"Readers who are rooting either for or againstNetanyahu will find that Pfeffer's reporting quenches their thirst for thecomplete picture of his rise to power."—Commentary
"A perceptivehistory of a beleaguered nation and one deeply flawed leader."—Kirkus Reviews
"Weavingtogether stories from Netanyahu's time in America and Israel, and from hisfamily history, military service, and political career, Anshel Pfeffer'sfascinating and insightful Bibi paints a portrait of theindomitable outsider who became Israel's three-time prime minister.Pfeffer's riveting account illuminates the ways in which the manleading Israel today is both a product and a beneficiaryof bitter divides that have shaped the nation's politics from itsearliest days."—Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow in Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution
"In a career thatcould 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 inIsraeli politics his critics once imagined. In this lively and trenchantbiography, Anshel Pfeffer explains why and how Bibi came to dominate and embodythe 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
"Certain toelicit both consternation and praise, Anshel Pfeffer's Bibi: The TurbulentLife and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu is a fascinating exploration ofthe complex ideological and familial foundations that continue to shape thethinking and governing of the man who may soon become Israel's longest servingPrime Minster. This is a book that will lead both Bibi's friends as well as hisfoes to see him a new--and infinitely more nuanced--light."—Daniel Gordis, author of Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn
"AnshelPfeffer has done something hard to do. He's given us an understanding, evencompassionate, portrait of Benjamin Netanyahu--the family, the formativeexperiences, the logic of his belligerent ideology--while keeping his distancefrom Netanyahu's stances and exposing many of the unpleasant truths that lie beneaththe surface Netanyahu works so hard to polish. Not coincidentally, Pfeffer hasalso given us a short-hand account of Israel's political history. Pfeffer isessential reading in Haaretz. His book gives Western readers someidea why."—Bernard Avishai, author of The Hebrew Republic