how long has netanyahu been in power

Benjamin Netanyahu has served as Israel’s prime minister for about 20 years in total, across several non‑continuous terms up to early 2026.

Quick Scoop: How long has Netanyahu been in power?

To unpack “how long has Netanyahu been in power,” you have to look at his time in office across three main periods rather than one uninterrupted stretch.

His different terms

• First term: 1996–1999 (about 3 years).

• Long second stretch: 2009–2021 (about 12 years).

• Current term: back in office since late 2022 and still prime minister in 2026 (a bit over 3 years so far).

If you add these together, you get roughly 18–19 years by late 2024, and just about 20 years by early 2026, which is why he is widely described as Israel’s longest‑serving prime minister.

One long reign? Not exactly

People online often talk about Netanyahu as if he has been in power “forever,” but his rule is broken by a gap from 1999 to 2009 and another from mid‑2021 to late 2022, when other leaders held the office. Still, the sheer length of his combined time in office has reshaped Israel’s politics and made him a dominant figure in almost every big Israeli political debate of the past decade and a half.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.