Israeli Prime MInister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said he was going to the hospital for an emergency procedure to get a pacemaker. In a videotaped statement released at 2 am, the Israeli leader said he got a monitoring device after he was hospitalised last week in a case of dehydration. He added that an alarm on the device went off on Saturday prompting he needed a pacemaker immediately.
“I feel excellent, but I listen to my doctors,” he said.
His office said Netanyahu will be placed under sedation. Justice Minister Yariv Levin will stand in for him. Netanyhau will receive the pacemaker at Israel’s Sheba Hospital. He was treated there last week as well.
Vote on judicial overhaul plan
The Prime Minister said that he expected to be discharged from the hospital on Sunday and move to Knesset, the Israeli house of representatives, ahead of the expected vote on his government’s judicial overhaul decision which has witnessed a lot of protests from the citizens. At the same time, he said he hoped to reach an agreement with his opponents.
The overhaul plan has triggered months of protests, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets Saturday night to demonstrate against it ahead of a key parliament vote Monday.
Levin is the mastermind of the plan.
A pacemaker is used when a patient’s heart is beating too slowly, which can cause fainting spells, according to the National Institutes of Health. It can also be used to treat heart failure. By sending electrical pulses to the heart, the device increases or maintains a person’s heartbeat at a normal rhythm, allowing the heart to pump blood to the body at a normal rate.
(With Inputs from Associated Press)