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NARRATOR: In May 2015, U.S. President Barack Obama

leads the world's superpowers in signing a historic agreement with Iran,

lifting economic sanctions

in exchange for a commitment to restrict its nuclear program.

The agreement's main opponent is Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

MAN 1: Excuse me, miss.

MAN 2: The Assembly will hear a statement

by His Excellency Benjamin Netanyahu,

prime minister, minister for foreign affairs,

minister for health and minister for communications

of the state of Israel.

(MEMBERS APPLAUDING)

NETANYAHU: 70 years after the murder of six million Jews,

Iran's rulers

promised to destroy my country,

murder my people.

And the response from this body

has been...

...absolutely nothing!

Utter silence!

Deafening silence!

Iran lied.

Big time.

After signing the nuclear deal in 2015,

Iran intensified its efforts

to hide its secret nuclear files.

55,000 pages.

Another 55,000 files

on 183 CDs.

DONALD TRUMP: Last week, Israel published intelligence documents

conclusively showing

the Iranian's regime and its history

of pursuing nuclear weapons.

Therefore, I am announcing today

that the United States will withdraw

from the Iran nuclear deal.

NARRATOR: America's withdrawal from the nuclear deal

is the highlight of Benjamin Netanyahu's long career.

The leader of a small country

had convinced the world's greatest superpower

to defy the other parties.

How did Netanyahu become so indispensable

that his supporters and opponents alike

can't imagine Israel without him?

(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

Netanyahu spends much of his adolescence in America.

The right-wing views of his father,

historian Benzion Netanyahu,

are deemed objectionable under the ruling left-wing government in Israel.

So he takes his family to the United States.

There, Bibi encounters new ideas.

JOHN F. KENNEDY: The kind of country we have here,

the kind of society we have,

the kind of strength we build in the United States,

will be the defense of freedom.

NARRATOR: Bibi is shaped by these two worlds,

Israel and America.

Upon finishing high school in Philadelphia,

Bibi enlists in the Israeli army.

He serves five years in an elite unit,

alongside his beloved brother, Yoni.

After his release, he returns to school in Boston,

together with his wife, Miki.

Their daughter, Noa, is born there.

MAN: Mr. Nitay is a graduate of MIT.

He's an Israeli.

NETANYAHU: I wanted to be self-sufficient.

I wanted to be at least possessing the knowledge

that I could earn my living and not be dependent on, on politics

to feed my family.

-(HONKING) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

NARRATOR: As he completes his MBA,

Bibi plans to take corporate America by storm.

But on Fourth of July, 1976,

he discovers that fate has other plans for him.

(FIRECRACKERS EXPLODING)

(BAND MUSIC PLAYING)

(CHEERING)

ANCHOR: As America celebrates its 200th birthday,

Israelis are rejoicing at a commando raid

that freed 102 hostages.

NARRATOR: While Netanyahu is celebrating with his friends in Boston,

his brother, Yoni, is leading an Israeli commando force

in a raid on Entebbe Airport, Uganda.

Air France Flight 139

had been hijacked by Palestinian and German terrorists

who demanded the release of hundreds of terrorists

held in Israeli prisons.

Rather than surrender to their demands,

Israel's leaders decided on a bold rescue mission.

ANCHOR: In 36 minutes, they killed seven hijackers and 20 Ugandan soldiers.

And they helped the hostages to the waiting planes and took off again

for the long flight back to Israel.

104 hostages were rescued.

However, three hostages died and the raid commander lost his life.

ANCHOR: Israel paid its dead a final honor today,

to Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu,

in a state funeral on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Practically all of Israel's present and past leaders were there,

along with Netanyahu's comrades at arms,

and thousands of Israelis who had never met the commander.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

NARRATOR: The whole world watches as Yoni Netanyahu is laid to rest.

Bibi is still unknown.

It is the first time he appears on American prime time.

ANCHOR: Professor Benzion Netanyahu, his father,

-teaches at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York.

The father came here for the funeral.

(INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)

EVA MARIE SAINT: We would like to present the Foreign Film award

from Israel, Operation Thunderbolt.

(THRILLING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: In less than a year, the Netanyahu family's tragedy

becomes an international blockbuster.

NARRATOR: Yoni becomes a legendary figure.

The family establishes the Jonathan Institute to study terrorism.

Bibi is now invited to speak at events honoring Yoni's memory.

He's not bad at it, either.

NETANYAHU: He fought and died in the war against terrorism,

and we thought that the task of the Institute could be to help

shape the battle

and win the battle against terrorism, worldwide.

And that was more a political battle than a military one.

NARRATOR: The legend of Yoni gives rise to a new hero.

American senators and top Israeli officials

attend a conference on terrorism organized by the family.

One of them is Moshe Arens,

Israel's ambassador to the United States.

He asks Bibi to become his deputy at the embassy in Washington.

Bibi accepts the offer and resigns from his position

as the marketing director for a large furniture company.

REAGAN: We have held two days of intensive talks

with Prime Minister Shamir and his colleagues,

covering a broad range of subjects

including political, military cooperation.

NARRATOR: Bibi positions himself in center frame.

To his left is an American president who was once a movie star.

To his right, an Israeli prime minister with broken English.

Bibi's watching and learning.

These discussions have been carried out in the spirit

of the conditional friendship

and the common bonds of mutual understanding

that bind our two countries.

NARRATOR: Bibi arrives in Washington with his second wife, Fleur,

a British-American.

When he met her in Boston, he was still married to Miki,

his childhood sweetheart from Israel.

Bibi and Fleur fit in easily

in Washington and New York's high society.

(FIRING)

As anyone who's seen the sights and listened to the sounds of war on their television sets

for the last month knows very well,

the battle of Lebanon has been ferocious.

NARRATOR: With the Lebanon war already raging,

Netanyahu is tasked with defending Israel

from the harsh images flooding the airwaves,

and sharp criticism from the U.S. administration.

Which the United States has...

REPORTER: Beirut was a city of firing squads last night,

of executions against civilians

in their refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.

REPORTER: The Israeli chargee Benjamin Netanyahu

arrived at the State Department.

After his meeting with the acting secretary,

Netanyahu rejected the U.S. charge

that the Israeli tanks had attempted to...

NARRATOR: After an incident between Israeli and American forces,

and a long night of discussions,

Bibi makes his first TV news appearance.

He's tired, disheveled and unshaven.

It is the last time his American audience will ever see him like that.

There was no attempt whatsoever to cross...

...uh, or to challenge the American marines

or the territory that they are holding.

WILDER: Don't talk down. Don't talk up.

Talk to them, from your heart.

Bibi takes classes in public speaking with Lilyan Wilder,

who also coached Oprah Winfrey and George W. Bush.

WILDER: Of course, you're not here to learn to act.

But using your own experience

and your own sense of reality while you're speaking

connects you to your subject and your audience

as nothing else can.

Acknowledge and believe that you are a person of intelligence and authority.

Believe you have something of value to say.

The time to start saying it is now.

NARRATOR: In the apartment he shares with Fleur,

Bibi sets up a makeshift studio

to practice for future TV appearances.

INTERVIEWER: I'm just gonna ramble a bit at the start

just so we'll get a picture of you.

I just... This will be a general discussion of terrorism which...

Early this morning, you told an anecdote about the grizzly bear.

I wonder if, in light of your, your answer just now,

if you could tell that again.

-Let me, let me stop the camera here for a second.

The attitude of, uh, some governments in the West reminds me,

uh, of the story of the grizzly bear,

uh, that appears in the forest, to...

I'm going to say it differently.

The attitude of some in the West regarding terrorism reminds me just of...

(INTERVIEWER LAUGHS)

Shows you the difference between, uh, politicians and diplomats and actors.

(LAUGHTER)

(SIGHS)

There is a story about two people

who walk in the forest

and are suddenly confronted by a grizzly bear charging at them.

One of them begins to run away.

The other asks him, "Why are you running?

"Don't you know you can't outrun a grizzly bear?"

And the man running turns around, he says,

"I don't have to outrun the bear.

"I have to outrun you."

That's the attitude, I think, of some in the West.

They think that they can run away from the grizzly bear of terrorism,

and leave a few countries behind to be gobbled up by it.

But, in fact, no one can outrun it.

The only thing you can do with this phenomena

is to turn around, squarely face it, confront it and defeat it.

And you can only do that together.

(EXPLOSIONS)

REPORTER: Hijackings, hostages, bombings, terrorism in all forms.

NARRATOR: In the 1980s, terrorism spreads around the world,

America's TV audience is horrified.

REPORTER: Tonight, they are still counting the dead.

When we return, we'll talk live,

with Ben Netanyahu,

charge d'affaires at the Israeli embassy in Washington

and an expert on terrorism.

NARRATOR: Practicing before the camera helps Netanyahu

express the ideas he absorbed at home clearly and succinctly.

I think we have to recognize that the free world is at war.

It's at war with international terrorism.

This war is arranged by states...

And the question is, what do you do against a factory

that produces the modern plague, the viruses of the modern plague,

-which is terrorism. I think... -INTERVIEWER: What do we do?

Well, I think what we have to do is arrest the disease

and strike at the centers of this, of this cancer.

NARRATOR: Bibi's appearances on American television

impress Israel's foreign minister.

At just 35,

he's appointed Israel's ambassador to the UN.

ANCHOR: Benjamin Netanyahu, like the country he represents,

believes in attacking his attackers.

In his recently published book, Terrorism: How The West Can Win,

Netanyahu presents a primer for response.

President Reagan read the book and was so impressed,

he read parts of it aloud to Secretary of State George Shultz.

Shultz wrote Netanyahu about that and added,

"The president and Nancy also saw you on TV,

"and told me they thought you did a terrific job."

When our citizens are abused or attacked anywhere in the world,

on the direct orders of a hostile regime,

we will respond, so long as I am in this Oval Office.

ANCHOR: When President Reagan ordered the attack on Libya,

in retaliation for the West Berlin disco bombing,

he knowingly or unknowingly subscribed to the Netanyahu Israeli line.

Increasingly, people and governments are listening to one man

in the fight against terrorism.

Ambassador Netanyahu is a rising star in world politics.

Some see him as a future prime minister of Israel.

(TEST SIGNAL BLARING)

(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)

-(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) -(IN HEBREW)

(VOCALIZING)

(SINGING IN HEBREW)

NARRATOR: At the time, Israeli TV had just one channel.

Millions of viewers tuned in on Friday night to watch its talk show.

They never saw an Israeli politician

who looked and sounded like Bibi Netanyahu.

(SINGING CONTINUES)

As ambassador to the United Nations, Bibi came under considerable criticism.

They said he spent most of his life in the United States,

and that he was unfamiliar with Israeli society.

NARRATOR: Though popular with the American media,

some Israeli journalists were wary of Netanyahu.

To Bibi, these are the same people

who held up his father's academic career.

The family called them Bolsheviks.

(IN HEBREW)

After you go back to Israel, you're gonna run for office.

Are you gonna think of us? Come to the United States?

If you'll invite me, if you, if you send me the ticket, definitely.

NARRATOR: To Americans,

Netanyahu personifies Israeli heroism.

Now, if given a chance, he wants to bring the American dream to Israel.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Bibi takes off his expensive suits and loses his tie.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Donors he met in New York and the crew of eager volunteers

help him run a new kind of campaign.

But Fleur is not at home in Israel,

and they soon divorce.

(APPLAUSE)

Netanyahu is appointed deputy foreign minister

in Yitzhak Shamir's right-wing government.

(MAN SPEAKING HEBREW)

NARRATOR: His skill at arguing Israel's case

is needed now, more than ever.

(SHOUTING)

REPORTER: Scenes from the occupied territories.

(SIREN BLARING)

The images are brutal.

The blood is flowing, and the whole world is watching.

NARRATOR: The Palestinians launch their intifadah,

a revolt against the Israeli occupation.

The Americans start pressuring Israel to find a diplomatic solution.

SOLDIER: When some kid's throwing stones at me and I catch him,

and he starts crying in my hand and he's, he's a small kid, right?

I feel like I want to, to, to to pet his head,

and not to want to beat him, because he's a kid.

I can definitely understand why they're fighting me, sure.

INTERVIEWER: For what are their reasons?

What are the reasons? They're suppressed by us.

Just two hours ago,

Allied air forces began an attack

on military targets in Iraq and Kuwait.

ANCHOR: Iraq fired seven Scud missiles at Tel Aviv this afternoon.

NARRATOR: The first Gulf War restores Israel's status as victim

and pushes the Palestinian issue aside.

Netanyahu's ready for battle.

Five months before the war,

he instructs the foreign ministry to set up

TV studios in Jerusalem

to accommodate hundreds of journalists.

(SIRENS BLARING)

In the midst of a missile attack,

Bibi offers CNN an interview like nothing they've seen before.

(NETANYAHU LAUGHING)

I must say that this is the darnedest way to conduct an interview,

but, uh, of course, what it does demonstrate

is the kind of threat we're facing.

Well, we don't know exactly

what, what the switch was, to Tel Aviv.

Do we want to go to Richard Blystone or, or...

NARRATOR: By night's end, Netanyahu's performance would be a major symbol

of the first war fought live on TV.

Maybe, if you can get with me on this map...

Look. This is the Arab world.

I'm just going to put my hands on it

for the benefit of the viewers.

I have a size-10 shoe, an American size-10 shoe.

I could walk on this map, on the Arab world.

Here's Israel. I can cover it with my thumb.

Now that tells me the whole story.

Israel is one of the tiniest countries in the world.

WILDER: Bring something to show.

Visual aids enhance presentation

because they are dialoguing devices.

If you can show as well as tell,

you will have everyone's undivided attention immediately.

Imagine you're putting together the main body of a documentary film

in which the narrator tells us

in logical order what is happening,

while the camera shows evidence to our eyes.

NARRATOR: In the summer of 1991,

photographers are invited to Bibi's wedding to Sara, his third wife.

Covering the private lives of politicians

is still new to Israeli journalists.

Now a family man,

Netanyahu is ready for the next stage in his career.

(AUDIENCE CHEERING AND APPLAUDING)

(SINGING IN HEBREW)

NARRATOR: While Netanyahu is planning his campaign,

Israel experiences a revolution.

Channel One's monopoly is broken.

New networks emerge and start to dominate the small screen.

(SINGING CONTINUES)

(REPORTING CONTINUES IN HEBREW)

(CRUNCHING)

(TICKING)

INTERVIEWER: Are you prepared tonight to say

that you've never had an extra-marital affair?

I'm not prepared tonight to say

that any married couple

should ever

discuss that with anyone but themselves.

NARRATOR: That night,

spin becomes an intrinsic part of Israeli politics.

Netanyahu goes from being an unfaithful husband

Hundreds of Bibi's supporters demonstrated their love

to the victim of an alleged crime.

The sex tape features in hundreds of headlines.

But the police investigation leads nowhere.

The tape is never found.

(ALL CHEERING)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: The day after his primary victory,

photographers are invited to document

the Netanyahu family on their day off.

The crisis in Bibi and Sara's relationship

is created on camera and resolved on camera too.

Five years after returning from America,

Bibi is ready to run for prime minister.

Six weeks ago, Benjamin Netanyahu

was elected the leader of the opposition Likud party in Israel,

as the Middle East peace talks continued in Washington.

Netanyahu stands as the strongest candidate to replace

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the next Israeli election.

Netanyahu has just published

A Place Among Nations: Israel and the World,

and I'm pleased to have him here. Welcome.

Ah, Conor Cruise O'Brien wrote a review in The New York Times,

um, rather complimentary of this,

and when I read it, I said, "My God, this must be one of your best friends."

-(CHUCKLING) Well, he is now. -Yeah. Exactly.

What is the message

that you bring in this book

to people who care about

the survival and future of Israel?

I think in the world, there are two types of peace.

The peace of democracies which require no strength

and no deterrence,

and no armies and no territories and no land barriers,

because democracies, by their nature, tend to peace.

But there's another kind of peace, and that's the peace of deterrence.

The peace opposite dictatorships,

where the only thing that keeps the peace

is the inability of the dictatorships or the despotisms to go to war.

I think, in this century,

the greatest tragedies occurred

when the democracies failed to distinguish one type of peace from another.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

We have come to try and put an end

to the hostilities so that our children,

our children's children,

will no longer experience

the painful cost of war, violence and terror.

NARRATOR: Standing in Netanyahu's way is Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin,

a revered general

who led Israel to historic reconciliation with the Palestinians.

Clinton sees Rabin as a father figure.

The peace process is one of the most important projects of his presidency.

(ALL CHEERING)

(SINGING IN HEBREW)

NARRATOR: With Israel in a state of euphoria,

Netanyahu's gloomy predictions seemed detached from reality.

(ALL LAUGHING)

NARRATOR: The press supports the peace process and Rabin.

Bibi, who opposes the process, finds himself marginalized.

(APPLAUSE)

WILDER: Invite your audience to relate to how you think and feel,

to understand the truth in what you have to say.

Ask yourself these key questions.

"Who am I talking to? What do I want to say to them?

"Why do I think these people need to hear this from me now?"

And remember, the essence of persuasion is,

"What do I want them to do?"

(CROWD CHEERING)

(HELICOPTER HOVERING)

NARRATOR: Palestinian terrorists try to stop the Oslo Accords.

The first suicide bombing by Hamas in downtown Tel Aviv

leaves Israelis feeling helpless.

News studios had no time to censor the images.

Bibi is first to arrive at the scene.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

NETANYAHU: I saw...

Behind the experience of...

Indescribable agony,

that the stench of death is everywhere.

Um, I think that Mr. Rabin bears

a very grave responsibility indeed.

I don't shut myself off in my office.

(CROWD CHANTING)

(CROWD BOOING)

-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING)

ANCHOR: Truly shocking news from the Middle East tonight.

Israel's Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has been assassinated.

The alleged assassin is in custody,

described as a Jewish law student active in right-wing causes.

CLINTON: Your prime minister was a martyr for peace.

But he was a victim of hate.

NETANYAHU: He was a man of courage.

A man of vision.

And he was endowed with one of the greatest virtues

that any man can have. He was endowed with humility.

(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)

(INAUDIBLE)

NARRATOR: The whole world stops to watch Rabin's funeral.

For so many Israelis and the U.S. president,

Netanyahu emerges as the villain in this saga.

(SINGING IN HEBREW)

NARRATOR: Shimon Peres replaces Rabin.

The media embraces him, and the polls predict a resounding victory.

President Clinton comes to Israel to show his support.

Top Likud party officials look into replacing Netanyahu.

MAN: Arthur?

NARRATOR: But Bibi won't give up.

-(APPLAUSE) -He recruits Arthur Finkelstein,

a senior American political consultant

who worked for Nixon and Reagan.

Finkelstein polls show that conservative forces in Israel

are much stronger than portrayed by the press.

Since there are more people who call themselves conservatives

than call themselves liberals,

our job in race after race after race

is to make it conservative versus liberal.

It's just that simple.

NARRATOR: Finkelstein's guide to victory includes short, simple messages

and a systematic disparagement of the rival candidate.

NARRATOR: His studio outside Jerusalem

simulates the office of the U.S. president.

NARRATOR: Despite Finkelstein's efforts,

Peres still leads in the polls.

But then, the terrorist attacks return.

-(SIRENS APPROACHING) -NETANYAHU: (IN HEBREW)

NARRATOR: One week before the election,

Finkelstein and Bibi cloister themselves in a hotel room

to prepare for Israel's first election debate,

aired by the new commercial Channel Two.

NARRATOR: Peres looks tired. In the first 10 minutes,

he says just 301 words,

compared to Bibi's 576.

(ALL CHEERING)

NARRATOR: The ultra-Orthodox parties throw their support

behind Netanyahu.

They use a controversial slogan

which isolates Israel's Arab population

and evokes criticism from the Left.

Its message will get stronger over the years.

Bibi is good for the Jews.

NARRATOR: Half a year after Rabin's assassination,

the man whose campaign

was deemed a lost cause by the press,

ends the night as the winner.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I hope he follows through on the agreement.

But, um... (LAUGHS) I don't know.

I am worried. I am scared.

And I'm sad.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CHEERING)

(INAUDIBLE)

(CHANTING CONTINUES)

NARRATOR: After his victory,

Bibi's life is like a dream come true.

He defeated the Left, the media,

and even an American president

who campaigned against him.

The journey that began with his brother's death

came to a happy ending.

(LAUGHING)

Just a minute. Let's get everyone in first.

This is the most genteel press of all,

-the Israeli press... -Yes.

All pussycats here.

Let me, first of all, say,

I am delighted to have the prime minister here,

I've looked forward to having a chance

to have this conversation.

NARRATOR: After their first meeting at the White House,

Clinton tells one of his advisors

that Bibi acts as if he's the leader of the world's greatest superpower.

(APPLAUSE)

NARRATOR: At age 46,

the man raised and educated in the United States

returns to address Congress.

WOMAN: Mr. Speaker, the prime minister of Israel.

(INDISTINCT)

Do you know where my wife is, by any chance?

She's up there.

(INDISTINCT)

I don't see her.

MAN: Since his election,

Prime Minister Netanyahu has expressed his determination

to dismantle the socialist structure

that dominates Israel's economic system.

And the time has come to change Israel,

to move it forward, to make it, I think,

one of the great successes

of the close of the 20th century and I think...

NARRATOR: Bibi is planning an American revolution in Israel.

He promises his donors rapid privatizations

and unbridled capitalism.

He appoints a chief of staff

and a national security advisor,

two positions which did not exist before.

(INDISTINCT)

He holds some of his meetings in English,

with advisors raised and educated in the United States like him.

Much of their time is devoted to handling the media.

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

NARRATOR: Bibi's American revolution

runs into a wary media.

Journalists won't forgive him for the events

leading up to Rabin's assassination.

Publishers are concerned of his plans for the media market.

NARRATOR: The bickering gets personal.

Unflattering photos are chosen intentionally.

Stories about her abuse of staff

and obsessive meddling in state affairs

make Sara Netanyahu an easy target.

An investigative report in Yedioth Ahronoth,

Israel's most widely read paper,

reveals embarrassing information about her.

NARRATOR: To handle the crisis surrounding Sara,

the prime minister's office

agrees to a pre-recorded interview

with an established journalist.

NARRATOR: Sara cuts the interview short.

She's furious about the questions.

Her outburst at the crew is cut in editing.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: Bibi and Sara feel like

they live in a topsy-turvy world.

The people admire them,

but the media is still critical.

(CROWD CHEERING)

To improve their public image,

they allow a film crew to follow them for a year.

(PIANO PLAYING INDISTINCTLY)

MAN: Benjamin Netanyahu is in his third marriage.

His union with Sara has produced two young sons...

NARRATOR: It's the first and last glimpse

that viewers get of day-to-day life

in the prime minister's residence.

-MAN: Sara has been lampooned... -(PHONE RINGING)

...by Israel's merciless columnists and satirists

as a domestic tyrant.

The hostile coverage has left its scars.

(GROANS)

(GUNSHOTS)

(SIREN BLARING)

NARRATOR: The peace and quiet Bibi promised is shattered quickly.

(CLAMORING)

He decides to open the Western Wall Tunnel,

right next to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Palestinians rise up in protest.

(SIRENS BLARING)

Dozens of Israelis and Palestinians

are killed in the riots.

Bibi's image as a security hawk is challenged.

The generals, who often become prime ministers,

consider him an outsider.

Clinton forces him to meet with Arafat

and sign the Hebron protocols,

transferring control of the city to the Palestinians.

After all his speeches and demonstrations

against the Palestinian leader,

Bibi's base sees him shaking hands

with Arafat again and again.

The need to move ahead with the peace process

despite his right-wing government

forces Bibi to attempt a tangled political maneuver

that ends with his first criminal investigation.

An expose by Channel One News,

which he detests,

found that he made a deal with his interior minister, Aryeh Deri.

Bibi will appoint an attorney general

who will close the bribery charges

being brought against Deri,

in exchange for Deri's support

of the Hebron accords.

ANCHOR: Headlines in Israel's morning papers

screamed of the scandal that is rocking the country.

For the first time in the nation's history,

police have called for the indictment

of a prime minister on criminal charges.

NARRATOR: The police launch an investigation

and recommend indicting Netanyahu.

But the attorney general closes the case for lack of evidence.

Still, he is very critical

of the prime minister's behavior.

Many ministers also expressed their concern and misgivings.

(CROWD CLAMORING)

Bibi! Bibi!

NARRATOR: Thanks to his struggle with the media,

Netanyahu, the son of a professor

and a product of an elite American education,

comes to represent the common people.

(TAPE CLICKS)

(WHIRRING)

WILDER: Why is getting an immediate response

so critically important?

Because when you make that initial connection. to a listener,

you are no longer isolated

or all alone up there in the spotlight.

You are inviting them to come with you

to a destination you have chosen.

Once the journey begins,

you'll be surprised and delighted

at how your fear will fade.

NARRATOR: Bibi launches the first website for the prime minister's office.

A decade before the rise of social networks,

Netanyahu lays the groundwork

for direct contact with voters.

(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)

NARRATOR: Clinton continues to pressure Bibi

to move forward with the peace process.

Netanyahu and Arafat sign the Wye Accords,

which includes more concessions of territory.

The agreement is never implemented,

but the far right still considers Bibi a traitor.

The Haaretz newspaper,

even publishes a critical interview

with Bibi's own father,

Benzion Netanyahu.

Clinton's advisors

arrive in Israel to help Bibi's election rival.

Ehud Barak is a decorated general.

-He was Yoni Netanyahu's close friend and commander.

(CHEERING)

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

NARRATOR: Netanyahu is behind in the polls,

but his most devoted followers remain loyal.

They accompany him from one studio to the next.

(CROWD BOOING)

(CROWD YELLING)

(IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(CHANTING)

(CROWD BOOING)

(WHISTLING)

(CROWD YELLING)

(SOMBER MUSIC)

(INAUDIBLE)

NARRATOR: Bibi's return to public life,

passes through terrorism, the media and America.

MAN 1: Today, we're fortunate to have with us someone

who's been leading the fight against terrorism

for most of his life.

MAN 2: And there are many of us, and I'm certainly one of them,

who considers you, frankly, the Winston Churchill of our times.

The application of power

is the most important thing in winning the war on terrorism.

If I had to say, what are the three principles

of winning the war on terror,

it's like what are the three principles of real estate,

the three "L"s. Location, location, location.

The three principles of winning the war in terror,

are the three "W"s.

Winning, winning and winning.

The more victories you amass,

the easier the next victory becomes.

And therefore, I think the choice of Iraq

is a good choice, it's the right choice.

NARRATOR: Bibi uses his break from politics

for business and the lecture circuit.

He sees how quickly the world is changing.

(SHRIEKS)

MARK ZUCKERBERG: When we first launched, we were hoping for, you know,

maybe, 400, 500 people.

Now, we're at 100,000 people,

so who knows where we are going next.

TRUMP: We've never had a team lose so bad.

You're all fired. All four are fired.

A huge explosion rocking the office of the U.S...

NARRATOR: Traditional media is losing traction.

Bibi finds the success of Fox News,

the popular conservative outlet,

particularly intriguing.

He starts planning his return to power.

Netanyahu makes a list of donors

with whom he should develop a closer relationship.

At the bottom of his list are millionaires.

At the top, billionaires.

Some have been there for him since the 1980s.

They help Bibi and Sara

maintain the same lifestyle they were used to.

One donor, Sheldon Adelson,

launches a newspaper which plays a pivotal role

in Netanyahu's return to power.

NARRATOR: Adelson invests a fortune in Israel Today.

It is handed out for free,

and soon has the highest circulation in the country.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Netanyahu is in constant contact with the paper's editors.

He's personally involved in its headlines,

articles and opinion pieces.

The Israeli people were not getting

a fair and balanced view of the news and views.

They're attacking, uh, Bibi all the time.

Just attacking.

Likud Supporters are called to the ballots

NARRATOR: After a decade of failed attempts,

Bibi has a real chance of winning the 2009 election.

NARRATOR: Netanyahu recruits his father

to rehabilitate his image with right-wing supporters.

ANCHOR: Benjamin Netanyahu

has been formally tapped to put together

Israel's next government.

NARRATOR: Bibi learned his lesson.

He returns to power stronger and more experienced.

Over the next three terms at least,

he continues the revolution he began in the 1990s

that shapes Israel into a very different place.

This time, he won't be pushed out so easily.

Mr. Vice President,

do you remember the time

that we were the new kids in town?

(CROWD LAUGHING)

(CROWD APPLAUDING)

NARRATOR: Bibi spent decades studying America.

No foreign leader knows Washington's inner workings

better than the Israeli prime minister.

They said that Bibi is an American.

But he really used everything he learnt about the U.S.

to serve Israel's interests, as he sees them.

NETANYAHU: I think for there to be peace,

the Palestinians will have to accept

some basic realities.

It cannot go back to the 1967 alliance.

ANCHOR: It was a stone-faced Barack Obama

and Netanyahu basically treating him like a schoolboy.

Thank you.

NARRATOR: His clashes with Obama create tensions

but they also strengthened Netanyahu's stature

in the Republican Party,

and conservative circles in Washington.

Bibi becomes an articulate spokesman for the new conservatism

in the United States,

and the antithesis of Obama.

OBAMA: Did you know that Sheldon Adelson

spent $100 million of his own money last year

on negative ads.

You've got to really dislike me...

(CROWD LAUGHING)

...to spend that kinda money.

Sheldon would've been better off offering me

$100 million to drop out of the race.

(CROWD LAUGHING, APPLAUSE)

(SIREN WAILING)

NARRATOR: More than ever, he presents Israel

as standing on the front lines of a culture war

between Islam and the West.

The battle between good and evil

is reaching its climax.

NETANYAHU: The medieval forces of radical Islam,

they want to destroy Israel, Europe, America.

They want to end the modern world.

NARRATOR: What began with lessons

on addressing the cameras in the 1980s,

becomes a performance that leaves the world riveted.

Here's the diagram.

This is a bomb.

This is a fuse...

Here's a piece of the remaining...

That indicates of Iran's nuclear...

(OVERLAPPING CHATTER)

This bomb has been filled...

You can see it for yourself.

...with enough in rich uranium...

They contain...

And Iran has to go through

three stages. Do you recognize this?

NARRATOR: Bibi's performance becomes part of his policy.

And his status only grows stronger.

(PULSATING MUSIC)

Fear overruns, silences all debate.

The Israeli welfare state is privatized and disappears.

The Palestinians are hidden behind fences.

The settlements are thriving.

So far, at least, Netanyahu has given Israelis

more security and stability than ever.

He proves to them that despite terrorism,

the occupation and the casualties,

they can still live a good life

in the only democracy in the Middle East.

My name is Donald Trump and I am a big fan of Israel.

And frankly, a strong prime minister

is a strong Israel.

And you truly have a great prime minister,

in Benjamin Netanyahu.

There's nobody like him.

He's a winner, he's highly respected,

he's highly thought of by all.

Terrific guy, terrific leader,

great for Israel.

CHARLIE ROSE: You had a resounding electoral victory in Israel.

Many people didn't expect it would be

as big as it was.

Mmm.

Um...

How many terms as prime minister do you want to serve?

You're already

either the longest serving, or the second-longest serving.

-Second. -Hmm. Who's counting?

(INAUDIBLE)

NARRATOR: Bibi continues to bask in the spotlight of the American media.

In Israel, as his status grows,

he practically stops giving interviews.

He decides what he will talk about,

when and with whom.

He picks his makeup,

hair color, and even the room's temperature.

We no longer see him sweat.

We no longer hear him stutter.

He appoints himself minister of communications.

NARRATOR: His son, Yair,

starts getting involved in government, too.

His friends are appointed new media consultants

for the prime minister.

Bibi's Facebook page soon has more followers

than any Israeli politician or media outlet.

NARRATOR: The government press office releases staged videos

of Netanyahu and his family

in happy, optimistic moments.

The personality cult around Bibi and Sara soars.

The media still publishes embarrassing stories

about Bibi and his family.

There is growing evidence over the lavish lifestyle

on the public's dime.

NARRATOR: The police also investigate

the Netanyahu family's efforts to influence the media market.

The people closest to Bibi

are suspected of bribery

in a sensitive defense deal.

Yet despite all the publicity,

people admire Bibi and Sara even more.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(CLAMORING)

(CROWD CHANTING) Bibi! Bibi! Bibi!

VINCENT HARRIS: We really live in a world

of short attention spans.

NARRATOR: Arthur Finkelstein

is replaced by Vincent Harris,

a 26-year-old Texan media strategist

who specializes in harvesting Facebook data.

How do you get

a policy discussion going

in a ten-second snap?

How do you talk about

the Israeli-Palestinian crisis

in 140 characters?

NARRATOR: After decades attacking the media and the Left,

Netanyahu needs just one sentence

to tell the people who its real enemies are.

(CROWD CHEERING)

(CROWD CHEERING)

NARRATOR: Netanyahu's tactics are rejected

by many in Israel and around the world.

But they are accepted and admired by others.

So far, Bibi's political gambles are paying off.

Bibi.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(CAMERAS CLICKING)

(CHUCKLES) Okay.

TRUMP: This is a battle

between barbaric criminals

who seek to obliterate human life

and decent people.

This is a battle between good and evil.

-Great. -We are very glad to be here.

Welcome to our palace. (LAUGHS)

It's very homey, very modest.

But thanks to you, we could paint the walls.

We got a budget to paint the walls.

And I want you first to meet our boy.

Sara, Jared. Have you seen him?

-Oh, hi there. I know him. -That's the son-in-law.

Yes, I know you since you were a kid.

NARRATOR: President Trump's visit to the prime minister's residence is aired live.

The excitement of the event

exposes moments that are usually hidden from the public.

-This is my son. -Hello. Hello. Nice to meet you.

I'm a big, big fan of both of you.

I heard about you so much from my mother.

She talks about you all the time.

You know, I can relate a lot to what Barron is going through,

because I was his age in my dad's first term.

They were doing satires about me, when I was 3 years old.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

NARRATOR: We don't know what Bibi and Trump discussed privately.

Maybe they mentioned Vincent Harris.

After his success with Netanyahu,

he went on to join the Trump team.

(INDISTINCT)

After bringing America to Israel,

Bibi's bringing Israel to America.

His attacks on the establishment and the media,

which started in the 1990s,

are now a trademark of top politicians.

Especially the leader of the world's greatest superpower.

MAN: Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you.

NARRATOR: Like Trump,

Bibi's actions lead to a clash with the law.

His endless obsession with his image and the media

threatened Netanyahu's very survival.

(CROWD CHEERING)

He's suspected of attempting

to bribe media tycoons

to improve their coverage of him and his family.

ANCHOR: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu

is now in the midst of a major political scandal.

He's under investigation for bribery, fraud

and breach of trust,

and things may have just gotten a whole lot worse.

NARRATOR: The police recommend that he and Sara be indicted.

But Bibi knows that regardless of what they find,

he can always tell his supporters

his version of events.

WILDER: Public speaking is an art.

Like any art, it requires dedication and practice.

If you follow the seven-step program,

you will taste the joys that fearless speaking can bring.

The magic of getting a response,

the pleasure of tapping your own creativity,

the power of persuasion,

the overwhelming rightness one feels

when speaking with an objective

and from conviction.

But this is only a beginning.

It is my fervent hope

that the seven steps to fearless speaking

becomes an ongoing resource for you.

And that you continue to grow

and to revel in your newfound voice.

(INDISTINCT OVERLAPPING CHATTER)