Benjamin Netanyahu
Netanyahu in 2012, U.S. Department of State
Place of Birth: Tel Aviv, Israel
Date of Birth: 21 October, 1949
Ethnicity: Ashkenazi Jewish
Benjamin Netanyahu is an Israeli politician. He has been Prime Minister of Israel, since 29 December, 2022; and, previously, from 18 June, 1996 to 6 July, 1999, and from 31 March, 2009 to 13 June, 2021. He has also been Chairman of Likud, since 20 December, 2005, and, previously, from 3 February, 1993 to 6 July, 1999; Leader of the Opposition, from 3 February, 1993 to 18 June, 1996, again, from 16 January, 2006 to 31 March, 2009, and again, from 28 June, 2021 to 29 December, 2022; as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, from 2002 to 2003, from 2012 to 2013, and again, from 2015 to 2019, Minister of Finance, from 2003 to 2005, and Minister of Defense, from 2018 to 2019, among other duties. He is the longest-serving Prime Minister in Israel’s history.
His father, Benzion Netanyahu (born Benzion Mileikowsky), a scholar, was a Polish Jewish emigrant, born in Warsaw, who moved with his family to Israel in 1920. His mother, Tzila (Segal), was born in Petah Tikva, Israel, of Lithuanian Jewish, Polish Jewish, and Belarusian Jewish descent. His uncle was mathematician, specializing in complex analysis, Elisha Netanyahu. His cousin is computer scientist and professor Nathan Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is married to educational and career psychologist Sara Netanyahu (born Sara Ben-Artzi). He has a daughter with his former wife Miriam Weizmann; and two children, including podcaster and political activist Yair Netanyahu, with Sara. His brother, Yonatan Netanyahu, was an Israel Defense Forces officer, who was killed while commanding the elite unit Sayeret Matkal during Operation Entebbe, in 1976. His younger brother is physician, author, and playwright Iddo Netanyahu.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that a DNA test taken by his brother Iddo showed him to have Sephardi ancestry.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s paternal grandfather was Nathan Mileikowsky (the son of Zvi/Tzvi Hirsch Milikovsky/Mileikovsky and Liba Gitl Milikovsky). Nathan, a rabbi, educator, writer, and political activist, was born in Krevo, Lithuania, now Belarus. Zvi was the son of Chaim Mileikovsky/Mileikowsky, Halevi, and Pesia/Pessia. Liba was the daughter of Avigdor Leib.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s paternal grandmother was named Sarah Lurie (the daughter of Ben Zion/Bentsel Lurie). Sarah was born in Šeduva, Lithuania. Ben was the son of Girsh Lurie and Ette.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s maternal grandfather was named Binyamin Segal (the son of Hersz Zwi Segal, Halevi, and Rachel).
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s maternal grandmother was Chana Malka Markus (the daughter of Avraham Marcus/Markus and Chaia Sorah Dworsky). Chana was born in Lazdijai, Lazdijai, Alytus, Lithuania. Avraham was born in Kovno, Lithuania, the son of Tsvi “Hirshe” Markus and Perl Galanty. Chaia was born in Suwalki, Poland, the daughter of Azriel Zelig Dworsky and Batia/Baszka Dvoresky.
Prime Minister Netanyahu is a third cousin, twice removed, of American actor Leo Howard. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s maternal great-grandmother, Chaia Sorah Dworsky, was a sister of Leo’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Jacob Dworsky.
Source: Genealogy of Benjamin Netanyahu – http://www.geni.com
He returned as Prime Minister of Israel, replacing Yair Lapid.
He’s part-Sephardic. Please add that in.
He discovered via a DNA test that he is of part Sephardi Jewish ancestry.
https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4807687,00.html
Not surprising. Most Ashkenazim have some Sephardi ancestry. Many refugees from the Spanish Inquisition joined their co-ethnics in Poland, rather than journeying to North Africa. There were also quite a few Sephardim and Mizrahim who settled in Eastern Europe (especially Hungary and Romania) in the Ottoman years.
In the past 500 years Polish Ashkenazi Jews have very little to no Polish non-Jewish ancestry. However, Polish Catholics/Christians rarely but still possibly have Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry because the cases where a Jewish person married a non-Jewish person almost always the Jewish person converted to Christianity and raised their children in the Christian faith. When I say that I am referring to a couple generations back not today when there are a lot of intermarriages and conversions to Judaism.
Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews both have (North) Italian ancestry, not Central/Eastern European. That Italian mixing most likely occurred during late Roman Empire/early Middle Ages BEFORE they moved to Germany (Ashkenazi) and Iberia (Sephardi), since then they had been living very isolated.
I said that Ashkenazi Jews are NOT central/Eastern European. My point is that the Slavic people are more likely to have Jewish ancestry than vice versa because it was much more common to convert out of Judaism than into the religion back several generations ago.
Ashkenazi Jews Eastern European IDB segments as you can see on the link below.
https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1006644
The number of IBD segments shared between Ashkenazi Jews (AJ) and other groups of populations.
https://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article/figure/image?size=large&id=info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1006644.g005
I thought he looked polish.
nah
Um actually he is… did you not read that his parents were polish jews? So yeah he is.
Jews are a different ethnic group
He is a polish jew… his mom and dad were polish! The fact he is Jewish has nothing to do with where his parents were from. His father is a polish jew and mom.is half polish jewish. Did you not read?
“He is a polish jew… his mom and dad were polish! The fact he is Jewish has nothing to do with where his parents were from. His father is a polish jew and mom.is half polish jewish. Did you not read?”
Doesn’t matter. Polish Jews and ethnic Poles are not the same group. The latter have always been in Poland. The former only arrived in the Middle Ages and are ethnically Levantine-Middle Eastern. Genetically, they are predominantly Levantine-Middle Eastern with some Greek and Italian admixture on the maternal line.
Yes, we lived in Poland for a time, but we’re not Polish. We’re a Levantine people.
You don’t seem to understand genetics. Poles and Ashkenazi Jews are two completely different ethnic groups.
Are you saying Ashkenazi jews aren’t Caucasian?
Yes he is a Polish Jew, but he isn’t ethnically Polish. He looks Ashkenazi.
“Are you saying Ashkenazi jews aren’t Caucasian?”
If Levantine-Middle Easterners are included under “Caucasian”, then yes. Ashkenazi Jews are Caucasian.
But if Levantine-Middle Eastern people are not considered Caucasian, then no. Ashkenazim are not Caucasian.
What made you believe that? Ashkenazi Jews are not Poles, or eastern Europeans, they plot closer to south Italians.
The whole point I was making was his parents are from Poland thus he is a polish jew and is Caucasian. I thought you were trying to dispute if he was Caucasian. I mean polish jews exist just like russian jews, german jews etc.
Cwm, Jews are still Caucasian regardless.
He is NOT ethnically Polish. He happens to be a Jew from Poland, same way you can have Indians from the UK.
Yes, Ashkenazi Jews plot closer to Southern Italians and are not ethnically Polish. They are of their own ethnic group. I guess I can get why this is hard for some people to understand.
Where we plot is irrelevant. We are a Levantine ethnic group indigenous to Israel. We are Middle Eastern.
We plot in Crete and Sicily because we acquired some Greek/Italian ancestry in exile, and both Cretans and Sicilians have Levantine-Middle Eastern admixture. This means Ashkenazim are genetically similar. It doesn’t mean we’re indigenous to Southern Europe. We’re still ethnic Jews, and still indigenous to Israel.
Russian Jew, Polish Jew, German Jew, etc. is just a reference to the country they were living, not that they are of ethnic Polish, Russian, or German descent.