At the start of this year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was facing a crisis.

Just a few months before, Hamas had breached Israel's border with Gaza, killing some 1,200 people in Israel on October 7th, and taking more than 250 hostages back into Gaza.

It was a massive security failure, the deadliest day for Israelis and the country's

history. Cults for Netanyahu's resignation began within weeks. Here's a press conference from

October 30th of last year. It seems that the level of support that you have amongst the Israeli

public has dropped considerably. So the question is, how can you continue

to lead this country effectively during a very difficult time and have you at all considered

stepping down? The only thing that I intend to have resign is Hamas. We're going to resign them

to the dustbin of history. By January, he was staring down headlines like Netanyahu's

collapsing support. Can Netanyahu survive Israel's war with Hamas? And fan and foe agree,

Netanyahu's reign won't last. And it wasn't just October 7th that was stoking calls for his ouster.

Angrit Netanyahu had been brewing since the summer of 2023,

when hundreds of thousands of Israelis marched in protest of his plan to overhaul the country's judicial system.

This was after he was forced into a governing coalition with far-right ultra-nationalists.

His opponents in the Israeli parliament chanted weak as he was sworn in.

And you can add to all that the corruption charges he has faced since 2019, which finally

landed him in court this month.

He's called the charges absurd and told NPR this in 2022.

All politics is cruel. Israeli politics is crueler than most. I've been subjected,

especially my family, to endless vilification because I keep waiting elections.

Consider this, Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to ring in the new year, the 18th time he'll do it as the Prime Minister of Israel.

Despite a corruption trial and international arrest warrant and a grinding war, Netanyahu is still on top of Israeli politics.

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