Doctors who rushed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to implant a pacemaker early Sunday morning later found he had suffered a potentially life-threatening “temporary heart block”. A heart monitor implanted a week ago registered the danger and sounded an alarm, prompting Netanyahu’s immediate hospitalization and use of a pacemaker.
Doctors also admitted they found irregularities in an electrocardiogram test when he was hospitalized last week, but reassured the public the prime minister’s heart was “completely normal”.
Official findings released at the time by the hospital and prime minister’s office cited dehydration as the reason for his hospitalization, specifically stating: “At no time were cardiac arrhythmias detected.”
In a statement, doctors also said Netanyahu passed out last weekend, information the prime minister’s office had not disclosed at the time.
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Speaking to Channel 12 News and in a video statement, Sheba Medical Center professors Roy Beinart and Eyal Nof described the events leading up to the pacemaker’s implantation, which they described as “urgent”.
Nof said when Netanyahu was hospitalized on July 15, an EKG test found an abnormality, but more intensive testing found no problems. The anomaly is a heart conduction problem that Netanyahu has been known to have suffered from for years, doctors said. They added that he was showing symptoms of dehydration.
“Last week there was a disturbance in the EKG. After the disruption [Netanyahu] “I underwent an invasive examination that did not warrant a pacemaker, but as a precautionary measure, a subcutaneous monitor was implanted, as is usual in such cases,” Nof said.
Beinart then explained (Hebrew link) that his life would have been in danger had not the monitor on Saturday alerted him to a problem with Netanyahu’s pulse, which indicated an atrioventricular (AV) block. “The disruption lasted only a few seconds. If the disruption hadn’t passed and the heart rate hadn’t recovered, we would have a slow heart rate, leading to unconsciousness and, God forbid, cardiac arrest.”
Nof said the monitor showed “transient heart block”.
When asked if the monitor saved Netanyahu’s life, Nof replied, “Absolutely.”
Problems with the heart’s conduction system are usually due to damage to the heart muscle, genetics, or the effects of certain medications.
While some doctors and officials may have known about Netanyahu’s cardiac conduction problems, this information has not been released publicly.
Channel 12 health reporter Yoav Even said in Sheba on Sunday that it is now known that Netanyahu has been suffering from a cardiac conduction disorder “for twenty years … not a life-threatening but a chronic condition”. It required constant monitoring, “and according to Sheba’s experts, he was indeed being monitored.”
Netanyahu’s operation came amid growing criticism of the lack of transparency surrounding the prime minister’s health and the fact that during last week’s hospitalization, information released by the hospital only in coordination with the prime minister’s office or by the office itself has proved incomplete and inaccurate.
“Until we reported that he had undergone treatment in the catheterization ward, no one had bothered to disclose this to the public,” Even noted. “And two days later when we reported that he had undergone one [diagnostic] cardiac catheterization procedures [to check the heart’s electrical conduction](The Times of Israel reported last week that Netanyahu underwent an electrophysiology (EP) study, in which cardiac catheterization is performed in the right side of the heart and electrical conduction intervals are measured between specific points in the heart’s conduction system.)
Even added: “The hospital continues to insist he was hospitalized [last week] for dehydration, but more and more facts are coming to light that have remained hidden from us, raising the suspicion that something hearty was involved. Sheba denies this, but they denied that he underwent tests in the catheterization unit; They hid that he had undergone diagnostic catheterization…”
Related: Questions about PM’s health emerge after being discharged from hospital with heart monitor
Despite protocols requiring prime ministers to release an annual health report, Netanyahu has not released one since 2016. It was not possible to legally compel him to share this health information as the logs are not enshrined in law.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking from Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, where he is hospitalized, on July 15, 2023, says he is feeling “very well”. (Screenshot: Channel 12)
Doctors said that generally when patients come to the hospital with symptoms of a condition – be it dehydration or another illness – and an EKG abnormality is detected, they are sent for more extensive testing.
The tests performed on Netanyahu a week ago did not reveal any specific problems with his heart.
A picture shows a view of the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent surgery to implant a pacemaker on July 23, 2023 (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
“When the Prime Minister left the hospital on Sunday [July 16] We felt that the [heart] The incident was secondary to dehydration…We couldn’t totally rule out that there wasn’t a disorder…so we acted as we have with any patient who arrives in that condition,” said Beinart.
The prime minister’s subcutaneous monitor transmitted an alarm Saturday night suggesting atrioventricular (AV) block, doctors said, leading to the decision to install the pacemaker.
Doctors said Netanyahu was recovering from pacemaker surgery and that his family – and security guards – were with him in his room.
A week ago, 73-year-old Netanyahu lay in hospital from Saturday to Sunday after complaining of dizziness after a trip on Friday to the Sea of Galilee, where he admitted spending several hours in the sun and in the scorching heat “without a hat, without water”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) and his wife Sara during a holiday by the Sea of Galilee on July 14, 2023. (Courtesy; Used under Article 27a of the Copyright Act)
Sheba said at the time that doctors had carried out a series of tests and found that the Prime Minister’s heart was “completely normal” and that “at no time had any abnormal heart rhythms been detected”. However, it added that doctors “have decided to use a subcutaneous holter machine, as is customary” – a device that monitors the heart and warns of any abnormalities.
At the time, Sheba did not respond to reports that Netanyahu had passed out at home. According to some Hebrew media reports at the time, he too had fallen and hit his head; These reports were also ignored by the hospital or Netanyahu’s office.
In a video message just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, Netanyahu said: “A week ago they installed a surveillance device. The machine beeped tonight and said I need a pacemaker. I have to do that tonight. I’m fine, but I’m listening to my doctors.”
Related: Netanyahu underwent surgery to have a pacemaker fitted. Here’s why and what it will do
A pacemaker is a device that encourages the heart to control or increase the heartbeat when it is too slow or irregular. The implantation usually takes one to two hours while the patient is sedated. The procedure is not usually performed under general anesthesia, and the patient is usually conscious, although light-headed.
Michael Bachner and Renee Ghert-Zand contributed to this report.