Israeli PM feeling ‘very good’ after being taken to hospital with ‘dehydration’
15 July 2023, 20:44
Tests showed the 73-year-old was suffering from dehydration.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he “feels very good” after being taken to hospital – and has admitted it was “not a good idea” to be out in the sun without a hat and water.
In a video statement hours after being admitted for apparent dehydration on Saturday, the 73-year-old said: “Thank God, I feel very good.”
He thanked medics and the public for messages of support and said he had “one request” – for people to drink water and act safely in the scorching summer heat.
Israel is in the midst of a heatwave, with temperatures in the mid-30s degrees Celcius.
Mr Netanyahu spent Friday enjoying the country’s Sea of Galilee, a popular holiday spot, a statement from his office said.
On Saturday, his doctor told him to go to Sheba Hospital, near the coastal city of Tel Aviv, after he began to feel “mild dizziness”, the statement added.
Walla, a leading Israeli news site, quoted an unnamed official as saying Mr Netanyahu fainted.
The statement said: “Preliminary tests came out normal and nothing abnormal was found.
“The initial assessment is dehydration.”
More tests were ordered and Mr Netanyahu remained in hospital on Saturday evening.
He is Israel’s longest-serving leader and has served multiple terms stretching over 15 years in office.
His current far-right government, a collection of religious and ultranationalist parties, took office last December.
Mr Netanyahu is said to be in good health generally, though he was briefly admitted to hospital last October after feeling unwell during prayers on Yom Kippur, a day when observant Jews fast.
He also faces pressure on multiple fronts.
He is on trial for multiple corruption charges in a case that has bitterly divided the nation.
His government’s hard-line policies toward Palestinians have drawn international criticism and antagonised relations with the United States, Israel’s closest and most important ally.
At home, tens of thousands of Israelis have held weekly demonstrations against Mr Netanyahu’s government to protest his plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
Mr Netanyahu’s allies say the plan is needed to rein in the power of unelected judges.
But his opponents say the plan will destroy the country’s fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Mr Netanyahu and his allies.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid issued a statement wishing Mr Netanyahu a “full recovery and good health”.
“Feel better,” Mr Lapid said on Twitter.
