Israel’s Netanyahu briefly hospitalized after ‘dizziness’

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered hospital on Saturday with apparent dehydration after a coastal break during a heatwave, delaying the weekly cabinet meeting even though he declared himself well.

Netanyahu’s office said the 73-year-old was admitted to Sheba Hospital, close to his private residence, after experiencing dizziness, and would stay there overnight.

In a video from hospital, a smiling Netanyahu said he had taken holiday on Friday at the Sea of Galilee in temperatures hitting 38 Celsius.

“Thank God, I feel really well,” he said. “I ask you all, spend less time in the sun, drink more water, and may we all have a good new week.”

Israel’s longest-serving leader is in the midst of a domestic crisis with protests against his religious-nationalist coalition’s push for judicial reform before parliament disperses for the summer on July 30.

That furore has contributed to strains in relations with the United States, as have surging Israeli-Palestinian violence and progress in Iran’s nuclear programme.

Israeli media said he was fully conscious en route to Sheba and that he walked into the emergency room. No procedures were enacted to declare him incapacitated or determine who might replace him, the reports added.

Netanyahu’s office said he was admitted on his physician’s recommendation after complaining of “light dizziness”. “The preliminary diagnosis is dehydration,” it said, adding further routine tests were underway.

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

In early October, Netanyahu was taken ill during the Jewish fast of Yom Kippur and was also briefly hospitalised.