The Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was set to have surgery on Sunday for a hernia, as per a statement from his office.
His office said the hernia was found during a routine checkup the night before.
According to his office's initial statement, Netanyahu, 74, will be under full anesthesia during the surgery. As a result, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Yariv Levi will take over his duties as prime minister.
The statement from earlier on Sunday announced, “In consultation with his doctors, it was decided that tonight, at the end of the agenda, the Prime Minister will arrive at the hospital for hernia surgery.”
In a subsequent statement reported by CNN and The Times of Israel, Alon Pikarsky, the hospital’s director of general surgery and the attending surgeon, provided an update on the prime minister’s condition.
“He is awake, recovering and speaking with his family,” Pikarsky reportedly said in the statement.
This is not the first surgery Netanyahu has had. In July 2023, Netanyahu had surgery to install an emergency pacemaker, and doctors revealed he had a chronic heart condition. underwent surgery to install an emergency pacemaker, and doctors revealed he had a chronic heart condition.