Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu fitted with a pacemaker | CNN

CNN
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israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu He had a pacemaker fitted early Sunday morning, a surgery performed just before the Knesset is set to vote on a controversial judicial reform bill, according to a statement from his office.

The procedure occurred at Tel Hashomer Hospital, the statement said. The prime minister was sedated during the surgery.

“During the proceedings, the Minister of Justice and Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin will take their place,” the statement added.

Netanyahu’s operation was triggered by a warning from a heart monitor that he had “transient heart block,” Eyal Nof, head of the Invasive Electrophysiology Service at Sheba Medical Center, said on Sunday.

“He was rushed to Sheba Medical Center,” where the operation took place, the doctor said in a video statement.

“During the night we implanted a pacemaker. Everything was good. The prime minister is feeling very well this morning,” he said.

The Cleveland Clinic, one of the leading American medical centers, says that transient heart block “is when the electrical signal that controls the heartbeat is partially or completely blocked. This causes your heart to beat slowly or skip beats and your heart is unable to pump blood effectively. Symptoms include dizziness, fainting, tiredness, and shortness of breath. Pacemaker implantation is a common treatment.”

Netanyahu checked into the Sheba Medical Center a week ago. He was diagnosed with dehydration at the time, but was also fitted with a subcutaneous heart monitor, the hospital added.

At the time, her office said that she had been experiencing dizziness.

But Netanyahu collapsed last Saturday before his previous hospital admission, one of the doctors at the Sheba Medical Center said on Sunday.

He was admitted last week “because he had a fainting episode,” said Roy Beinart, director of the Davidai Center for Rhythm Disturbances and Pacemakers at Sheba Medical Center.

Israeli media reported at the time that the prime minister had passed out, but his office said only that he had experienced dizziness.

Netanyahu, 73, previously announced On twitter would be equipped with the device, which sends electrical pulses to the heart.

“I want to brief you on what is 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 it already tonight. I feel great, but I listen to my doctors,” she added.

“The doctors tell me that tomorrow afternoon I will be free,” said the prime minister. “I will be discharged from the hospital ready to go to the Knesset for the vote.”

The Knesset is scheduled to begin voting on a bill that strip the Supreme Court of power declaring government decisions “unreasonable,” removing one of the few checks on government in a country without a written constitution. The controversial judicial reform plan has sparked thousands of protests in Israel in recent weeks.