In 1996 Israel would hold it's most important election for Prime Minister since 1977 when Menachem Begin, founder of the Likud Party won. Now the Likud Party regained it's influence back in the Israeli elections, this time the official was Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was running against the favorite, Shimon Peres. Peres succeeded Yitzhak Rabin as party leader prior to the 1977 elections when Rabin stepped down in the wake of a foreign currency scandal involving his wife. This time Peres was expecting to lead the Labor Party against the rising nationalist sect, the Likud. In the months prior to the elections, a series of bombings attributed to the Palestinian Liberation Organization sent protests and angered many in the Haredi neighborhood, where Peres once gained favor there. Peres was also well liked by the Arab population. On May 29th 1996, Netanyahu won by the slimmest of margins, narrowingly defeating Peres 50.5% to 49.5% of the votes. It would also pose a change in American politics as well, as the neoconservative faction that birthed under the Reagan administration which slowly rose thru the government ranks during Clinton. Foreign policy regarding the Middle East began being shaped in Israel-US offices where documents like the "Clean Break Strategy" were outlining future plans to control Arab countries. By 2000, the Likud-Neoconservatives began fulfilling the agendas of their previous foreign policy goals.