Netanyahu to break record for single stint as Israeli PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will on Sunday break the record for serving the longest single stretch as Israel’s prime minister, eclipsing founding father David Ben-Gurion’s second term.

Netanyahu, who is also on his second stint at the helm, will have been in power for 2,790 consecutive days on Sunday, Yedioth Aharonoth newspaper reported.

Netanyahu started his current term on March 31, 2009, during which time he has won three elections, most recently in March 2015.

However, Netanyahu still has a way to go to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister overall. Ben-Gurion served for more than five years in his first term as Israel’s founding prime minister, from May 1948 to January 1954, in addition to his 7.5 years as leader from November 1955 to June 1963.

David Ben-Gurion at home in Kibbutz Sde Boker (GPO)

Netanyahu, elected for the first time in 1996, managed just over three years of his first term before losing the 1999 elections to Ehud Barak

Israel does not have term limits for prime ministers.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leads the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on November 13, 2016. (Emil Salman/POOL)