Ex-Israeli PM Netanyahu’s Memoir ‘My Story’ to Hit Shelves Three Weeks After November Elections

Threshold Editions, a division of publisher Simon & Schuster that specializes in conservative non-fiction, announced on Tuesday that it would release an autobiography of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 22.

“Born a year after the founding of the Jewish state, I have dedicated my life to combat the forces that seek its destruction and make peace with those that do not,” Netanyahu, 72, said in the news release.

“My story is one of tragedy and triumph, setbacks and successes, lessons learned and loved ones cherished. It is woven with that of Israel, which has proven that faith and resolve can overcome insurmountable odds to forge a brilliant future,” he added.

The memoir will be titled “Bibi: My Story,” and cover his childhood split between Jerusalem in Israel and the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States; his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the War of Attrition, the 1968 raid into Lebanon, the October 1973 war, and the commando raid to free the hostages of Sabena Flight 571, during which he was shot in the shoulder.

It will also cover his entry into politics, including his five terms as Israel’s prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 until 2021, both times as head of the conservative Likud - National Liberation Movement. The latter period also saw his waging of three wars against Gaza, attempts to annex parts of the West Bank, opposition to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and the signing of the Abraham Accords, which more than doubled the number of Arab countries recognizing Israel as a state.

The release did not say if the book would delve into the ongoing corruption case against him. He is accused of receiving gifts from two rich donors, who believed he would pass policies favoring their business interests, including that of Yediot Acharonot, Israel’s largest daily paper. He has denied all the accusations; the trial is set to resume in September.

The book’s publication will come just three weeks after Israel’s scheduled parliamentary elections, ordered after former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett could no longer keep his coalition majority together. It’s unclear if Netanyahu, now the leader of the opposition, will be able to run in the election, much less to assemble an alternative government. The 2021 coalition assembled by now-Prime Minister Yair Lapid, which saw Bennett become head of government after his Yamina party joined the alliance, was forged out of politically disparate groups who united in opposition to a Netanyahu government.