Israel’s Netanyahu in hospital with probable dehydration

JERUSALEM, July 15 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was admitted to hospital on Saturday dizzy from apparent dehydration, but was in good condition, his office said, and there were no signs of a possible handover. .

The 73-year-old, who is Israel’s longest-serving leader, had been vacationing on the Sea of ​​Galilee on Friday during a heat wave, according to the statement from his office.

On Saturday, he was taken to Sheba Hospital in the city of Tel Hashomer, near his private residence on the Caesarea coast. Israeli media said that he was fully conscious on the way to Sheba and that he entered the emergency room.

Channel 12 TV said that he had suffered chest pain but there was no confirmation of that. He was not under sedation and proceedings to declare him incapacitated were not underway, he added.

Netanyahu’s office said he was admitted on the recommendation of his doctor after complaining of “mild dizziness.”

“Initial tests were normal, with no findings. The preliminary diagnosis is dehydration,” he said, adding that more routine tests were underway. An earlier statement said that her condition was fine.

It was not immediately clear who could replace Netanyahu in the event of an emergency succession.

When then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was ousted by a stroke in 2006, he was succeeded by his deputy, Ehud Olmert. Justice Minister Yariv Levin has stood in for Netanyahu during his trips abroad.

CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE

First elected to the top job in 1996 at the head of the conservative Likud party, Netanyahu has been both dynamic and polarizing. He led a free-market revolution in Israel while showing distrust of the internationally-backed peace settlement with the Palestinians and negotiations to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

He is in the grip of an internal rage over his plan to reform the judiciarywhich has sparked unprecedented protests by Israelis concerned about the future independence of the courts.

Netanyahu himself is no stranger to the docks, having been indicted in three corruption cases. He denies any wrongdoing and has portrayed the trial as a politicized witch hunt.

With hundreds of military reservists threatening to disregard summons orders in protest of government reforms, Israel’s Channel 13 on Wednesday broadcast audio of Netanyahu yelling at a cabinet session that such insubordination was “inconceivable.”

“I wish the prime minister a full recovery and good health,” Yair Lapid, the centrist opposition leader, tweeted.

In early October, Netanyahu fell ill during the Yom Kippur Jewish fast and was also briefly hospitalized.

Written by Dan Williams; Edited by Andrew Cawthorne

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