Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu doing well after receiving pacemaker

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a pacemaker during emergency heart surgery Sunday.

“He was admitted urgently to Sheba Medical Center,” said Dr. Eyal Nof, the head of invasive electrophysiology service at the Sheba Medical Center. “During the night we implanted a pacemaker. All went well. The prime minister is feeling very well this morning.”

A joint statement from Netanyahu’s office and the medical center said the prime minister “feels fine” and was being discharged late Sunday after some time recovering at the hospital. It also said that a Cabinet meeting expected for Sunday had been postponed until Monday morning.

A pacemaker is a device implanted under the skin near the collarbone to prevent the heart from beating too slowly, according to Mayo Clinic. Such a device sends electrical signals to chambers of the heart to regulate heart rhythm.

Netanyahu, 73, was hospitalized last weekend after he reportedly lost consciousness. As noted by “The Times of Israel,” the Sheba Medical Center said a diagnosis indicated Netanyahu suffered from a bout of dehydration and doctors implanted a heart monitor as a precautionary measure. He was released from the hospital a day later. The prime minister posted a video message to Twitter offering an update on his health before his second hospitalization this weekend.

“I want to update you on what’s going to happen,” Netanyahu said in the video. “Last week they gave me a monitoring device. The device beeped and said I need a pacemaker, and I need to do that already tonight. I feel great, but I listen to my doctors. The doctors tell me that I will be free tomorrow afternoon. I will be discharged from the hospital ready to arrive at the Knesset for the vote.”

Netanyahu, who has held a record number of years as Prime Minister, has been at the center of a recent effort to provide more accountability to the nation’s Supreme Court. Netanyahu seeks legislative oversite for approval of new justices among other things. Currently, the Israeli Supreme Court nominates and chooses its own replacements and does not have a check and balance. Netanyahu seeks to model the court system more like America’s high court or courts in Europe.

The move, though, has sparked widespread protests from Israel’s left.

–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice

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