Netanyahu is undergoing surgery.. before an expected vote and amid mass protests
Sheba Hospital announced on Sunday morning that the health condition of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “Good” after surgery to implant a pacemaker.
Netanyahu was taken to hospital overnight to undergo a pacemaker implantation at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer. The hospital said in a statement that the prime minister “will remain under medical supervision in the cardiology department.”
Netanyahu underwent an implantation of a heart rhythm monitor on Saturday night, according to a video statement released by his office.
Netanyahu added in the statement: “A week ago I had a monitoring device implanted. This device beeped this evening and said that I had to have a heart rhythm monitor implanted, and I had to do it tonight.”
The Israeli government assigned the Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister the tasks of “Benjamin Netanyahu”.
The Israeli government also postponed its weekly session and canceled his meeting with the Israeli Chief of Staff, Major General Herzi Halevi.
This comes at a time when tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv and near the parliament in Jerusalem on Saturday to intensify protests against the controversial judicial reform bill, before the final vote on a key element early next week.
Protest organizers in Israel said that more than 550,000 people took part in demonstrations across Israel to protest the judicial amendments plan, as tens of thousands gathered in Tel Aviv near Parliament and in the vicinity of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem before the final vote on a key component of the project early next week.
It included protests for its twenty-ninth consecutive week. The cities of Beersheba, Herzliya, and Kfar Saba, with the participation of all political and social groups, from the left and the right, peace activists, and military reservists.
Late Saturday night, hundreds of demonstrators set up tents near the Knesset to spend the night.
Netanyahu’s government, which includes far-right and ultra-religious parties, plans to limit the powers of the Supreme Court, arguing that the changes are necessary to ensure a better balance of powers.
Opponents accuse the prime minister, who is being prosecuted on corruption charges he denies, of seeking to pass reforms to overturn possible sentences against him.
