Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have a pacemaker implanted Sunday morning amid recent health problems, according to Israeli reports.
The surgery was announced in a Twitter video early Sunday morning. The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported that Netanyahu’s statements, which were in Hebrew, were made before a vote in the Knesset about controversial Israeli judicial reform.
“The attempts to reach a broad agreement continue even now,” KAN quoted him as saying.
Pacemakers send electric pulses to chambers of the heart in order to regulate one’s heart beat rate and rhythm, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves 10 Downing Street after a meeting with Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London, March 24, 2023. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)
“A week ago I was fitted with a monitoring device. That device beeped this evening and said I must have a pacemaker and that I must do this already tonight,” the 73-year-old Netanyahu said in the video. “I feel great, but I need to listen to my doctors.”
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Last week, Netanyahu was released from a hospital after experiencing severe hydration. The prime minister was given a heart monitor in his chest.
Netanyahu said that he was at the Sea of Galilee without water or sun protection when he fell ill last weekend. Israel was undergoing a heat wave, with temperatures hitting 38 degrees Celsius or 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, listens to Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, left, as cabinet secretary Yossi Fuchs looks on during a weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem, on July 17, 2023. (OHAD ZWIGENBERG/POOL/AFP via Getty Images, File)
“On the recommendation of the doctors, the prime minister continues to undergo additional routine tests,” the prime minister’s office previously said in a statement.
Netanyahu has faced recent criticism from Israelis over his proposed judicial overhaul. On Friday, a group of over 1,100 Israeli air force pilots and aircrew said they would suspend their voluntary reserve duty if the overhaul goes through.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a hearing at the Magistrate’s Court in Rishon LeZion, Israel, Monday, Jan. 23, 2023. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
“Legislation that enables the government to act in such an extremely unreasonable way would hurt the security of the State of Israel, would lead to a deep mistrust and jeopardize my ability to continue and risk my life – therefore, with great sadness, and without any other options, I am suspending my voluntary reserve duty,” the letter read.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
