Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be in “very good” condition after spending Saturday night in hospital following dizziness caused by a day in the sun during an intense heat wave.
(Bloomberg) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was said to be in “very good” condition after spending Saturday night in hospital following dizziness caused by a day in the sun during an intense heat wave.
“This morning, Prime Minister Netanyahu continued to undergo tests at the Sheba Medical Center,” his office said early Sunday. “The tests are normal, his condition is very good, and he is expected to be released later today.”
The Cabinet meeting that convenes weekly on Sundays was postponed for a day to await Netanyahu’s return.
Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving leader and has been elected to a total of five terms, the first in 1996. His current far-right government is pushing an initiative to diminish the power of the judiciary, a plan that’s drawn hundreds of thousands of protesters to the streets nationwide in recent months.
Late on Saturday, the Ynet news site posted a photo of the prime minister with his wife on a boat cruise on the Sea of Galilee in northeast Israel.
“Yesterday, I spent time with my wife in the Sea of Galilee in the sun, without water, without a hat — not a good idea,” Netanyahu, 73, said in a video statement released earlier from the hospital.
The Likud Party that Netanyahu leads released a statement soon after the prime minister was admitted to the hospital, saying the “initial assessment is dehydration.” He went to the hospital on his doctor’s recommendation.
Israel joined much of Europe over the weekend in suffering a scorching heat wave. The prime minister in his video statement urged Israelis to “spend less time in the sun, drink more water.”
He also thanked the medical team that examined him and those who sent him get well wishes.
Netanyahu was taken to a Jerusalem hospital in October, just before the most recent election, after feeling chest pains while at a synagogue.
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