Netanyahu leaves hospital after suffering dehydration during Israel heat wave

By Amir Tal, Hadas Gold and Richard Allen Greene, CNN

Jerusalem (CNN) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left hospital Sunday after being admitted the previous day for dehydration amid a heat wave in the country.

Amit Segev, the cardiology unit director at the Sheba Medical Center – where Netanyahu was treated – said the prime minister was fitted with a heart monitor during his stay.

Segev said tests had shown that Netanyahu’s heart was normal and that no heart arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat had been found.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu has completed a series of tests and is in excellent condition,” said Segev.

The Israeli leader was admitted Saturday to the hospital in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv. A statement from his office, provided to CNN, said Netanyahu complained of “mild dizziness” before his admission.

The prime minister released a video statement later Saturday suggesting he was dehydrated and advising people to drink more water.

“Yesterday, I spent time with my wife in the Sea of ​​Galilee, in the sun, without a hat, without water. Not a good idea,” Netanyahu said, “So first of all I want to thank all of you for your concern and also to the excellent teams here at Sheba who examined me.

“Thank God, I feel very well, but I have only one request from you: we are going through a heat wave in the country, so I ask you, be less in the sun and drink more water and let us all have a good week.”

Temperatures in Israel have been reaching the mid-30s Celsius (low 90s Fahrenheit) for several days and are expected to continue at that level for the next week, the Israel Meteorological Service said.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid wished Netanyahu “a complete recovery and good health” in a tweet.

A cabinet meeting set for Sunday has been postponed to Monday, the leader’s office said.

Netanyahu, 73, is the leader of Israel’s center-right Likud Party and has been the dominant figure in Israeli politics for nearly three decades.

In June 2021, he lost office for the first time in 12 years after rival Naftali Bennett won a parliamentary vote to form a government.

Eighteen months later, he was once again sworn in as prime minister in a dramatic return, cobbling together a coalition.

During Yom Kippur in October 2022, Netanyahu took ill while visiting a synagogue.

He was admitted to hospital where he stayed overnight before being released.

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