Big bad Ben

Alumnus to be proud of this week reaches No 163 in the series, with a man whose determination to pursue Gordon Brown-type family values is so acute that he has refused (under the guise of a political disagreement over Palestine) to break bread with Robin Cook. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's prime minister and author of the unputdownable Fighting Terrorism, is ruthless and uncompromising, as might be expected of a former management consultant and graduate of MIT.