Jerusalem - Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu is returning to the Israeli premiership exactly one decade after he was voted out of what has been described as one of the world's most difficult jobs.

His first term between 1996 to 1999 - when he lost elections to Labour Party leader Ehud Barak, now a key coalition partner - saw a pronounced slowdown in the implementation of the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo peace accords, a process Netanyahu did not support.

But at the same time, the man who famously said he would never shake the hand of then-Palestinian president Yassir Arafat ended up doing just that, in front of the television cameras, and, with the 1997 Hebron and 1998 Wye River agreements, promised to turn over to the Palestinians large swathes of the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu's first stint as prime minister ended with him abandoned by coalition allies and castigated by nearly everyone else. His enemies accused him of being untrustworthy, duplicitous, devious, unscrupulous and incompetent.

His supporters, on the other hand, claim he was never treated fairly by his opponents, and continue to regard him as intelligent, professional and highly proficient, able to defend Israel's interests in a hostile world.

Netanyahu has said he has learned from the mistakes he made while in office.

Despite earlier statements that negotiations with the Palestinians would be held only after conditions are ripe and after "economic development" of the Palestinian areas, he has pledged to continue peace talks but without openly endorsing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He has also vowed he will not divide Jerusalem.

Born in Jerusalem in 1949, Netanyahu served as an officer in an elite army unit, was educated in the United States - graduating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a masters in business management.

His public career began when he was appointed information attache at the Israeli embassy in Washington, before going on to become Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.

He was first elected to the Knesset, Israel's parliament in 1988.

Netanyahu has been married three times, and has three children. (dpa)