Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday he felt “very good” after being admitted to hospital with dizziness, with his office saying he had likely been dehydrated. The 73-year-old prime minister was rushed in the afternoon to Sheba Medical Center, Israel’s largest hospital, located near Tel Aviv, his office said in a statement.
“He is in good shape and undergoing medical checks,” he added. In a second statement, Netanyahu’s office said he spent time Friday in the scorching heat of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. “Today he felt slightly dizzy and on the advice of his personal physician, Dr Zvi Berkowitz, he was taken to Sheba’s emergency department,” the statement said.
“The first examinations showed normal results”, according to the same source. “The first diagnosis points to dehydration,” his office said, adding that the prime minister will undergo a series of further tests. In a video recording released later, Netanyahu said he spent time on the lake with his wife, “in the sun, without a hat, without water”. It was “not a good idea”, he said, adding that he felt “very good”.
“Drink more water”
He also recommended that Israelis “spend less time in the sun” and “drink more water” due to the high heat in the country. Netanyahu’s office later reported that he was “staying in the hospital overnight for observation, on the recommendation of his doctors,” and that the weekly cabinet meeting was postponed from Sunday to Monday. Benjamin Netanyahu, who won with his allies from the ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties the November 2022 elections, is struggling domestically where he faces relentless opposition to the judicial reform bill championed by his government. .
He is further charged with corruption in a series of cases. His trial opened in May 2020, a first in Israel for a sitting prime minister. Netanyahu denies the charges against him and considers himself the victim of a witch hunt. In October, he was hospitalized overnight after feeling unwell while fasting on Yom Kippur, the holiest holiday in the religious calendar.