Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu successfully underwent surgery to insert a pacemaker early Sunday morning at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan. A week after he was hospitalized for dehydration and had a heart monitor implanted, and on the eve of the crucial Knesset votes to pass the first bill of the government’s highly controversial judicial reform.
Around 4am, the hospital said the procedure, performed by Prof. Roy Beinart and Prof. Eyal Nof, had been completed successfully and without complications, adding that the Prime Minister was in good condition and that he would “remain in Sheba’s cardiology department for observation”.
The prime minister’s office also said the operation had been successfully completed, that he was doing well and that his release was expected on Sunday.
A pacemaker is a device that encourages the heart to control or increase the heartbeat when it is too slow or irregular. According to the US Mayo Clinic and the UK National Health Service, implantation usually takes several hours and recipients are usually discharged from the hospital the same day or the next.
Receive the Daily Times of Israel by email and never miss our top stories
With your registration you agree to the conditions
The email address is invalid or missing
Please try again. The email address is invalid or missing
Please try again.
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”.
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.
In a video message just before 1 a.m., 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.”
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the architect of the reform, stepped in as acting PM during Netanyahu’s operation, which required the PM to be reassured.
Since Netanyahu has refrained from appointing a permanent acting prime minister and his successor will be chosen on a case-by-case basis, ministers approved Levin’s appointment by telephone vote.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with Justice Minister Yariv Levin in the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 7, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Flash90)
Netanyahu said his doctors had told him he was expected to be discharged from hospital in time to take part in scheduled votes on the coalition’s controversial “adequacy” bill.
The Knesset was due to begin debating the bill on Sunday morning, ahead of the second and third – and final – readings, which are expected on Monday or Tuesday.
The law, part of the broader plan to reform the judiciary, met with fierce opposition. Hundreds of thousands protested, and many set up a tent city near the Knesset, while some 10,000 reservists said they would stop volunteering when it went into effect.
In his video statement, Netanyahu said he was in constant talks with politicians and that he hoped an agreement could be reached with the opposition on the bill, although Hebrew media reports on Saturday indicated there had been no contact with opposition party leaders Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz over the weekend.
The weekly cabinet meeting scheduled for Sunday morning has been postponed to an unknown date.
Also postponed were key security talks — including a reportedly planned meeting between the prime minister and IDF chief of staff Herzi Halevi — on the impact of the “adequacy” law limiting judicial oversight on Israel’s security, as well as warnings from reservists that they would not volunteer.
Hebrew-language media reported Sunday morning that Defense Secretary Yoav Gallant met with Netanyahu at Sheba Medical Center.
Netanyahu’s operation – and the late-night announcement just before the actual procedure – came amid mounting criticism of the lack of transparency about the prime minister’s health and the fact that during his previous hospitalization, information had only been released by the hospital in coordination with the prime minister’s office, or by the office itself.
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)
Netanyahu heads an unprecedentedly tough Israeli coalition government that has sparked internal opposition to its judicial reform plans for more than six months. The law blocking judicial scrutiny of the “reasonableness” of politicians’ decisions is the first draft reform tabled since Netanyahu temporarily frozen the legislative initiative in late March. The Knesset will suspend its summer recess at the end of the month.
The proposed reform has plunged his relations with the US into a crisis, as President Joe Biden refused to invite him to the White House and publicly expressed his concerns about the fate of Israeli democracy.
Netanyahu is also in the middle of a protracted corruption trial, facing three counts of fraud and breach of trust and bribery. He denies all allegations and says he was the victim of a political witch hunt.
In October, Netanyahu was hospitalized at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center after feeling unwell during services at the Yom Kippur Synagogue. He was released the next morning after undergoing physical examinations and staying overnight for observation.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.