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CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
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WHEREAS, Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud Party won the |
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recent parliamentary election in Israel on March 17, 2015, |
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empowering Mr. Netanyahu to form a new government and embark upon a |
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fourth term as prime minister of the "other Lone Star State"; and |
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WHEREAS, Born in Tel Aviv in 1949, Mr. Netanyahu spent his |
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early years in Jerusalem, and twice during the 1950s and 1960s, he |
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lived with his family in a suburb of Philadelphia, where he |
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graduated from Cheltenham High School; and |
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WHEREAS, From 1967 to 1972, Mr. Netanyahu served in the |
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Israeli Defense Forces as a member of the elite special forces unit |
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Sayeret Matkal, taking part in a number of dangerous missions; in |
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1972, he was one of the commandos who successfully retook a hijacked |
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plane at Tel Aviv-Lod International Airport, during which action he |
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received a gunshot wound to his shoulder; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Netanyahu returned to the United States in 1972 |
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to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but he |
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interrupted his studies for 40 days during the Yom Kippur War to |
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take part in special forces raids along the Suez Canal and to lead a |
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commando team deep into Syria; he then continued his education at |
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MIT, earning a bachelor's degree in architecture and a master's |
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degree in management; and |
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WHEREAS, In 1978, Mr. Netanyahu became head of an antiterror |
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institute in Israel named for his late brother, Yonatan, who died |
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while leading a special forces unit in rescuing hijacked Israeli |
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citizens in Entebbe, Uganda; he entered public service in 1982 as |
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deputy chief of mission at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., |
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and from 1984 to 1988, he served as the Israeli ambassador to the |
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United Nations; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Netanyahu joined the Likud Party in 1988 and |
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later that year won election to the Knesset, Israel's parliament; |
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he became the leader of Likud in 1993, and he first served as the |
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nation's prime minister from 1996 to 1999; after spending two years |
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in the private sector, he returned to public life, first as foreign |
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minister and then as finance minister under Ariel Sharon; by 2005, |
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he was once again the leader of Likud, and he became prime minister |
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again in 2009; and |
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WHEREAS, Mr. Netanyahu has been elected prime minister four |
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times, matching the record of David Ben-Gurion, the founder of |
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Israel, and he is the only prime minister to have won three |
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elections in a row; he is also the second-longest-serving prime |
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minister in Israel's history, after Ben-Gurion; and |
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WHEREAS, Since he first took up arms in his nation's defense |
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in 1967, Benjamin Netanyahu has been for nearly half a century a |
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dynamic and passionate champion for the State of Israel, and his |
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confident and decisive leadership, and the strong bonds he has |
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forged with his friends and allies in the United States, have helped |
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to ensure Israel's prosperity and security; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the 84th Legislature of the State of Texas |
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hereby congratulate Benjamin Netanyahu on his reelection as prime |
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minister of Israel and extend to him sincere best wishes for the |
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future; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Mr. Netanyahu as an expression of high regard by the |
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Texas House of Representatives and Senate. |