Assassination, suicide bombings and a less than 1% margin: Netanyahu's first PM win in 1996

As Netanyahu seeks another term, here's a look at how the election that first brought him to power shaped a defining moment in Israeli politics.

A murdered prime minister, a wave of suicide bombings and an election decided by less than one percentage point: these shaped Israel’s 1996 contest which brought Benjamin Netanyahu to power for the first time.

On May 29, 1996, Benjamin Netanyahu defeated then incumbent prime minister Shimon Peres in Israel’s first direct election. (AP Photo)

With the incumbent seeking reelection, it brings to mind how public anxiety and bitter debates over peace laid the groundwork for his rise.

On May 29, 1996, Netanyahu, then leader of the opposition Likud party, defeated incumbent Prime Minister Shimon Peres in Israel’s first direct election for prime minister. Netanyahu secured 50.4% of the vote against Peres’s 49.5%, winning by 0.98%.

Netanyahu secured 50.4% of the vote against Peres’s 49.5% in 1996, winning by 0.98%.

The result came after six months of political upheaval. While former Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination had shaken the country and briefly strengthened support for the Labour Party, a series of suicide bombings in early 1996 put security at the forefront of the campaign and weakened Peres’s position.

On November 4, 1995, Yitzhak Rabin attended a large peace rally in Tel Aviv. The rally, held under the message “Yes to Peace - No to Violence”, supported his efforts to reach an agreement with the Palestinians.

As Rabin left the event and walked towards his car, Yigal Amir, a Jewish extremist allegedly opposed to the peace process, fired three shots at him. Two of them hit him. Rabin later died at a hospital, The Guardian reported at the time.

Rabin had led key negotiations that produced the Oslo Accords, through which Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) mutually recognised each other and agreed on a framework for Palestinian self-government and further negotiations. In 1994, Rabin, Peres and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat received the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts towards peace.

Netanyahu made security concerns the crux of his campaign in 1996.

The assassination left Peres, Rabin’s long-time political partner and foreign minister, to lead the government. He became prime minister and continued to support the peace process.

The assassination also changed the political atmosphere ahead of the next election. Netanyahu, then in his forties, led the opposition against Rabin and campaigned against the Oslo Accords. Some Labour supporters accused Netanyahu and other right-wing politicians of helping create an atmosphere of hostility towards Rabin before the assassination, according to a report in Le Monde.

Suicide bombings in 1996

In the months after Rabin’s death, Peres and the Labour Party benefited from a wave of public sympathy. That support, though, faced a new test in early 1996, when a series of suicide bombings killed civilians and brought the issue of security to the forefront of the election campaign.

On February 25, 1996, suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Ashkelon killed 25 people, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). The attacks changed the campaign almost immediately.

In a news analysis published two days later, JTA reported that opinion polls showed a surge in support for Netanyahu’s Likud party after the bombings. Netanyahu had been trailing Peres by a wide margin before the attacks, but the gap narrowed sharply in the aftermath. The attacks were allegedly by Palestinian militant groups opposed to the peace process.

Further attacks in March deepened public concern. Peres led Netanyahu by 16 percentage points in a poll shortly before the February 25 bombings, a Washington Post report said. After the attacks, that lead fell sharply, and Netanyahu briefly moved ahead in some surveys.

Netanyahu then made those concerns the crux of his campaign. He said that Israel needed a tougher approach to terrorism and criticised the government's handling of the peace process. His campaign promoted the idea of a “secure peace”.

Peres, meanwhile, sought to continue the negotiations begun under Rabin. His government said that the peace process offered a path towards stability and a regional settlement. The bombings though made it harder for Peres to convince voters that the process could protect them from attacks.

Two candidates, two visions for Israel

The 1996 election brought two competing approaches to Israel’s future into direct competition.

Peres represented what Rabin preached: negotiations with the Palestinians, implementation of the Oslo Accords and efforts to build stronger relations with Arab neighbours. He said that diplomacy could help secure Israel’s future.

Netanyahu challenged this. He opposed key parts of the Oslo process and claimed that concessions to the Palestinians could put Israel’s security at risk. His campaign appealed to voters who wanted a more forceful response to terrorism and who questioned whether the peace agreements were working.

Lebanon operation adds to Peres’s difficulties

The campaign also unfolded in parallel with Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon, known as Operation Grapes of Wrath, launched in April 1996, citing attacks by Hezbollah.

An Israeli strike on a United Nations compound at Qana killed more than 100 civilians who sought shelter there, drawing international condemnation. Israeli pilots carried out 600 air raids with fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and artillery units fired some 25,000 shells into Lebanese territory. Some 154 civilians were killed in Lebanon, and another 351 injured, as per Human Rights Watch.

Netanyahu is now again presenting himself as the leader best placed to protect Israel.

Peres’s handling of the operation created further political difficulties. In its analysis published on May 31, 1996, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy said the operation cost Peres support among Arab voters without winning enough undecided Jewish voters to compensate.

The result was a campaign in which Peres faced criticism over both the peace process and the government's ability to maintain security. Netanyahu was able to keep attention on terrorism and his promise of a tougher approach.

Netanyahu wins by less than 1%

Israel held its election on May 29, 1996. It was the first time voters directly elected the prime minister, in a system introduced alongside the parliamentary election.

Netanyahu won 50.4% of the vote, while Peres received 49.5%, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Netanyahu secured 1,501,023 votes against Peres’s 1,471,566 - a difference of 29,457 votes.

Israel elections 2026

This is Israel’s first election after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, and Netanyahu's series of continued wars in Gaza, Syria, Lebanon and Iran that have killed lakhs and injured crores of people, including children. Netanyahu’s government faces questions over security, the handling of the 2023 attack, the conduct of the subsequent wars and the country’s political direction.

Netanyahu is now again presenting himself as the leader best placed to protect Israel, Reuters reports. However, the opposition has united against him, with former military chief and Yashar party leader Gadi Eisenkot emerging as a key rival challenger.