Israel's Netanyahu taken to hospital for heart procedure, placed under sedation

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, Sunday, June 25, 2023. Netanyahu's office says he has been rushed to a hospital but that is in “good condition†as he undergoes a medical evaluation. The Israeli leader’s office said he was being treated on Saturday, July 15, 2023 at Israel’s Sheba Hospital, near Tel Aviv. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was discharged on Sunday after an overnight hospital stay for check-ups and monitoring following a dizzy spell.

Netanyahu, 73, was rushed to Sheba Medical Center on Saturday after feeling mild dizziness. His office said he had left the hospital around midday after stating earlier that his test results were normal and that he was feeling “very good.â€

The medical center said Netanyahu was in “excellent†condition after a series of tests, including cardiovascular ones.

Netanyahu's office said he had spent the previous day at the Sea of Galilee, a popular vacation spot in northern Israel where temperatures climbed to about 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) amid a stifling country-wide heat wave. After a series of tests, the initial assessment was that the veteran Israeli leader was dehydrated.

After being hospitalized, Netanyahu released a video on social media last night. Smiling, he said that he had been out in the sun on Friday without wearing a hat and without water. “Not a good idea,†he said.

Doctors ordered him to remain in the hospital overnight for further observation, and his weekly Cabinet meeting was delayed by a day and rescheduled for Monday, his office said.

Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving leader. He 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.

Netanyahu is said to be in generally good health, though he was briefly hospitalized last October after feeling unwell during prayers on Yom Kippur, a day when observant Jews fast.

The Israeli leader faces pressure on multiple fronts.

He is on trial for in a case that has bitterly divided the nation. His government's hard-line policies toward Palestinians have drawn international criticism and with the United States, Israel's closest and most important ally.

At home, tens of thousands of Israelis have held against Netanyahu's government to protest his plan to overhaul the country's judiciary.

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 Netanyahu and his allies.

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