TIME Magazine published its TIME100 Most Influential People of 2026 on Thursday, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu among the "Leaders" category.
In the explanation for Netanyahu's inclusion, TIME editor-at-large Ian Bremmer wrote that Netanyahu "once faced the political wasteland" after Hamas's October 7 massacre, but has now engineered a "political comeback" that "may have exceeded Trump's own."
Other influential individuals mentioned in the "Leaders" category include Pope Leo XIV, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, and International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi.
US leaders named in the list include New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, US President Donald Trump, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
TIME's most influential also includes artists, pioneers, innovators
The magazine also named individuals under other categories - namely, Artists, Pioneers, Titans, Icons, and Innovators.
"All year, we debate who belongs on the TIME100. There is no single metric that defines influence. Our selections are led by the stories that are shaping the world each year and the people who write them. Some are well known to many, others only within their fields," Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs wrote, describing how the list is selected.