Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool/Portal/File
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem on Monday, July 17, 2023.
CNN –
According to a statement from his office, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a pacemaker implanted early Sunday morning – an operation carried out shortly before the Knesset voted on a controversial judicial reform bill.
The procedure took place at Tel Hashomer Hospital, the statement said. The Prime Minister was sedated during the operation.
“During the trial, the Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin will take his place,” the statement said.
Netanyahu’s surgery was prompted by a heart monitor warning that he had “temporary heart block,” Eyal Nof, head of the invasive electrophysiology service at Sheba Medical Center, said on Sunday.
“He was urgently admitted to Sheba Medical Center” – where the operation was performed, the doctor said in a video statement.
“We implanted a pacemaker last night. All went well. The Prime Minister is very well this morning,” he said.
The Cleveland Clinic, a leading American medical center, says that temporary heart block occurs “when the electrical signal that controls your heartbeat is partially or completely blocked.” This causes your heart to slow down or skip beats, and your heart can’t pump blood effectively. Symptoms include dizziness, fainting, fatigue and shortness of breath. Cardiac pacemaker implantation is a common treatment.”
Netanyahu was admitted to Sheba Medical Center a week ago. He was diagnosed with dehydration at the time, but was also fitted with a subcutaneous heart monitor, the hospital added.
His office said at the time that he had suffered from dizziness.
But Netanyahu passed out last Saturday ahead of his final hospitalization, one of the doctors at Sheba Medical Center said on Sunday.
He was admitted last week “because he had a fainting spell,” said Roy Beinart, director of the Davidai Center for Rhythm Disturbances and Pacing at Sheba Medical Center.
Israeli media reported at the time that the prime minister had passed out, but his office said he was suffering from dizziness.
Netanyahu, 73, announced earlier on twitter He would be fitted with the device that sends electrical impulses to the heart.
“I want to update you on what’s going to happen,” Netanyahu said in the video.
“Last week they gave me a surveillance device. The machine beeped and said I needed a pacemaker and I need to do that tonight. I feel great but I’m listening to my doctors,” he added.
“The doctors tell me that I will be free tomorrow afternoon,” said the prime minister. “I am being discharged from the hospital and ready to arrive in the Knesset for the vote.”
The Knesset is scheduled to begin voting on a bill that would strip the Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions “unreasonable,” removing one of the few government controls in a country that has no written constitution. The controversial judicial reform plan has sparked thousands of protests in Israel in recent weeks.