Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was released Sunday from Sheba Medical Center after spending the night hospitalized for dehydration. The hospital said doctors had completed a series of examinations and found no abnormalities, although they implanted a heart monitoring device so that his health could be further tracked.
“Our diagnosis, at the end of all the tests performed, including the laboratory tests, is that the reason for the hospitalization was dehydration,” the hospital said in a statement.
The medical center said the premier’s heart “is completely normal” and that Netanyahu underwent “a series of comprehensive and routine examinations that are performed while fully conscious, including an electrical test of the heart, all of which came out completely normal.”
The statement said that “at no point was any heart arrhythmia found,” and that doctors “decided to use a subcutaneous Holter, as is customary.”
The hospital said the implantation of the medical device would “allow the close medical professional team of the prime minister to continue regular monitoring.”
The 73-year-old premier had been hospitalized at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan since Saturday afternoon, reportedly in the cardiology department.
The announcement from the hospital came amid rising criticism over the fact that information about Netanyahu’s medical condition had only been released by the hospital in coordination with the Prime Minister’s Office, or by the office itself.
The Kan public broadcaster reported that unnamed officials within the political and medical system were unhappy at the lack of transparency.
The premier was hospitalized on Saturday. A joint statement from his office and Sheba Medical Center at the time said Netanyahu complained of dizziness after spending several hours in the sun on Friday amid an intense heatwave across the country.
Hours later, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said that at the recommendation of his doctors, Netanyahu would stay overnight for medical observation.
Netanyahu later said he was feeling “very good” in a video statement early on Saturday evening from Sheba Medical Center, where he was undergoing “further routine examination” after being brought to the emergency room.
Netanyahu said that he had become dehydrated during his trip Friday to the Sea of Galilee, where he went “without a hat, without water.”
Netanyahu was brought to the hospital by convoy from his home in Caesarea on Saturday, where he was spending the weekend. He was said to be fully conscious and walking without assistance.
His wife Sara and son Avner were with him in the hospital.
The Haaretz and Walla news sites reported that Netanyahu had lost consciousness at home. However, this was not addressed in the prime minister’s video or in Sheba’s formal statement. An unsourced Channel 12 news report on Saturday said Netanyahu had complained of chest pains before he was taken to the hospital.
President Isaac Herzog, opposition leader Yair Lapid and other politicians wished Netanyahu good health and a speedy recovery.
US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted: “Prime Minister Netanyahu is a fighter. Please join me in praying for him and for Israel.”
The premier thanked McCarthy for his words and prayers, as well as the friendship between the two nations.
“I am feeling fine and ready to hit the ground running to continue strengthening the unbreakable bond between our two nations. Looking forward to see you again soon,” Netanyahu tweeted.
Former US vice president Mike Pence also sent his good wishes, tweeting: “Praying for a swift recovery for my Friend and a Great Friend of America, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. G-d Bless Netanyahu.”
Netanyahu has no formal deputy. In the past, when on trips abroad or when he has undergone brief scheduled medical procedures, Netanyahu has designated a ministerial colleague to temporarily fill in for him.
In January, when Netanyahu underwent a routine colonoscopy, Shas leader Aryeh Deri filled in for him. Netanyahu was forced to remove Deri from his ministerial positions by the High Court of Justice later that month, after the justices found Deri’s appointment to be “unreasonable,” using a judicial oversight law that the government now seeks to curtail.
Netanyahu heads an unprecedentedly hardline Israeli coalition government, which has sparked more than six months of internal opposition over its plans to overhaul the judiciary. Legislation to block judicial scrutiny over the “reasonableness” of politicians’ decisions — the first overhaul bill to advance since Netanyahu temporarily froze the legislative blitz in late March — is scheduled to clear the committee stage in the coming week, and to be voted into law on or around July 23. The Knesset breaks for summer recess at the end of the month.
The planned overhaul has plunged his ties with the US into crisis, with President Joe Biden refusing to invite him to the White House and publicly expressing concerns for the fate of Israeli democracy.
Netanyahu is also in the midst of a protracted corruption trial, having been charged with three counts of fraud and breach of trust and one of bribery. He denies all the allegations and says he is the victim of a political witch hunt.
In October, Netanyahu was hospitalized at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center after feeling unwell during Yom Kippur synagogue services. He was released the next morning after undergoing exams and remaining overnight for observation.
Source : Times of Israel
