The Israeli historian Benzion Netanyahu, who has died aged 102, was an uncompromising Zionist best known for the profound influence he had over his son Binyamin, the country‘s prime minister. Benzion insisted on the need for eternal vigilance in defence of Jewish rights, as he saw them, and critics blamed him for dissuading Binyamin from making peace with Palestinians. Many saw in the son‘s approach to Iran a reflection of his father‘s bleak world view.