Netanyahu cites his '3 political deaths' as his book hits 40,000 copies

Likud party leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu celebrated Monday reaching 40,000 sales of his autobiography, released last month.

Netanyahu, the former prime minister, who is set to return to office following his victory in this month’s elections, promised to write a further volume of “Bibi: My Story.”

At an event held by the publisher of the Hebrew-language edition of the book, Shibolet Press, at the Begin Center in Jerusalem Netanyahu, 73, said that he has in the past “died three political deaths” and listed the years of his elections defeats in 1999 and 2006, and his ousting from office in elections a year and a half ago.

“Not everyone gets obituaries three times in their life,” he said and noted that “they weren’t so nice.”

His autobiography, he said, is “the story that has been told so far. Wait for the next volume — more to come.”

He also claimed that the story he wrote himself has the advantage of inside knowledge unavailable to his previous biographers.

“When you walk through the swamp, you discover many things,” he said. “Without the politics, there is no purpose. The biographies written about me were written about the swamp, but they don’t touch the essence, the purpose.”

Benjamin Trivaks, chair of The Israeli Association of Book Publishers, left, presents
Likud party chairman MK Benjamin Netanyahu with a platinum award to mark 40,000 sales of his autobiography at an event in Jerusalem on November 14, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 )

At the event, Benjamin Trivaks, chair of The Israeli Association of Book Publishers, presented Netanyahu with a platinum award for reaching the milestone.

Trivaks said it was “an unprecedented achievement” for so many copies of a book to be sold in less than a month after its release.

Before being ousted in elections in 2021, Netanyahu was Israel’s longest-serving leader — serving for 12 years.

Agencies contributed to this report.
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