Israeli Doctors Reveal Netanyahu’s Chronic Heart Problem Only After Implanting Pacemaker 

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
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Israeli Doctors Reveal Netanyahu’s Chronic Heart Problem Only After Implanting Pacemaker 

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, Monday, July 24, 2023. (AP)

After undergoing emergency surgery to implant a pacemaker, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 73, made a video appearance from a hospital near Tel Aviv. Wearing a crisp dark suit, he grinned and declared energetically that he felt "great, as you can see."

But the Sunday photo-op failed to reassure Israelis, who were shocked to learn the same day that their longest-serving prime minister had concealed a long-known heart problem. The admission was a stark contrast to the image of a fully healthy, energetic leader that Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to bolster.

A week after a fainting spell, Netanyahu was urgently fitted with a pacemaker to control his heartbeat. Only then did staff at the Sheba Medical Center reveal Sunday night that Netanyahu has for years experienced a condition that can cause irregular heartbeats.

Until Sunday, the cardiologists had publicly played down concerns, saying the prime minister was dehydrated and describing his heartbeat as "completely normal."

The sudden revelations about Netanyahu’s health troubles came at the height of mass protests against his contentious plan to limit judicial power, with legislators from the governing coalition voting a first key bill into law on Monday.

The news about a chronic heart problem — offered up in a seemingly backhanded way — stoked further anger and distrust at a time of extreme political polarization in Israel.

"The factory of lies surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hospitalization continued like an episode of a sitcom," Yossi Verter, a political writer for Israel’s left-leaning daily Haaretz, wrote on Monday. The health crisis, he added, "illustrates more than anything the culture of deceit in which Netanyahu, his ministers and advisers run the country."

Because illnesses can damage a ruler's carefully maintained veneer of invincibility, strongmen around the world often obfuscate their medical history.

But democratic countries, too, have misrepresented the health of their leaders.

Netanyahu’s close ally, former US President Donald Trump, provided a highly sanitized account of his own health – never releasing full details of his medical history before he became president, and limiting information about his COVID-19 diagnosis in 2020. He announced his diagnosis by tweet, but his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, later recounted in a book that Trump tested positive for the virus days before and nevertheless continued with his public schedule and private meetings — a claim the former president has denied.

When Trump was hospitalized to receive an experimental anti-viral treatment, his doctor provided a rosy view of his health, but just minutes later, Meadows told reporters that Trump’s condition was far graver. Officials involved with his care now say Trump came within hours of potentially dying from the virus.

In Israel, the emergency pacemaker surgery marked the latest twist for Netanyahu, who is currently fighting a litany of bribery, fraud and breach of trust charges — a case that has driven Israelis to exhaustion with five elections in four years.

Fueling longstanding accusations that Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are out of touch with ordinary Israelis, Israeli media reported Monday that his pacemaker cost five times more than a typical model and was not covered by health insurance, citing Medtronic, the manufacturer.

But worrying critics most has been the hospital’s contradictory assessments of Netanyahu’s health and a wider lack of government transparency.

"You can’t ask for public trust if you don’t tell the public the whole picture, and it’s especially important when you talk about a leader’s medical condition," said Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank.

Netanyahu's health saga started last week, after a scorching day spent on a boat in the Sea of Galilee with his family. On Saturday, July 15, Netanyahu was admitted to Sheba hospital after feeling mild dizziness.

The next day, he underwent heart tests, which the prime minister’s office said had all come back clear. Dr. Amit Segev, the director of the hospitals’ cardiology unit, said Netanyahu was fitted with a heart monitor as a purely routine measure "to continue regular monitoring."

"His heart is completely normal, without any evidence (to the contrary)," Segev announced that Sunday.

But a full week later, last Saturday, Netanyahu was rushed to the hospital for sudden surgery to receive a pacemaker.

In a video statement, Dr. Eyal Nof said that the heart monitor had sounded an alert late Saturday after detecting a condition called heart block. The electrical signals that trigger a heartbeat begin in the top of the heart, but during heart block they have trouble reaching the heart's pumping chambers at the bottom. Slow heartbeats, skipped beats and fainting are symptoms. A pacemaker usually controls the disorder but untreated cases can lead to cardiac arrest.

The doctors' delayed acknowledgment of Netanyahu's condition sparked intense public criticism. Sheba Medical Center declined to comment on the mixed messages. A person familiar with Netanyahu’s treatment, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the hospital was under "strict orders" not to disclose Netanyahu’s condition last week.

"This is a disaster: The doctors knew about his medical condition and lied to the people," said Eliad Shraga, Chairman of the Movement for Quality Governance in Israel, a civil society group. "If he is not in fit and proper condition maybe he is not fit to run a nation in such a crisis."

Netanyahu has not commented on his condition beyond his two upbeat videos released from the hospital, in which he declared feeling "excellent" and ready to carry out business as usual.

In the face of mounting political crises, Netanyahu has carefully crafted an appearance of omnipotence, campaigning on his insistence that only he is capable of leading the tiny country. During his 15 years in power, his good health has largely gone unquestioned. His father, Benzion, died at the age of 102, lending weight to his family’s claims of vigorous health and vitality.

News of Netanyahu’s ailments could jeopardize the personal charisma that has been so critical to his political staying power, experts say.

"He feels that he’s above the law and above nature," said Altshuler.

Netanyahu appeared shaky at times during the legislative sessions on Monday just hours after his release from the hospital, his eyes sunken, but he soldiered on.

Although Israeli government protocol requires that prime ministers release annual medical reports, Netanyahu has not published one since 2016. That report declared his lab tests "completely normal" and his overall health "excellent," only mentioning that a polyp had been removed from his large intestine. In 2018, Netanyahu was briefly hospitalized after suffering from a fever.

Because the protocol is legally unenforceable, Netanyahu has had few other recorded health scares. But last October, he was rushed to a hospital for examination after feeling pains in his chest during his election campaign. He went jogging in a park the next morning, a display of physical fitness made for the cameras.

Ahead of the vote on the first major law to overhaul Israel’s justice system, protesters thronged the Israeli parliament building. Shraga, the good governance advocate, had to shout to be heard over the deafening chants of "De-mo-cra-tia!" — Hebrew for democracy.

"Without transparency, everything is at risk," he said.



Doctors and Moms Say Babies in Gaza May Die without More Formula, Blame Israel’s Blockade

 Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)
Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)
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Doctors and Moms Say Babies in Gaza May Die without More Formula, Blame Israel’s Blockade

 Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)
Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches her son, Hisham, who is just days old and was born prematurely, lying in an incubator at the neonatal intensive care unit of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP)

Seham Fawzy Khodeir watches as her son lies inside a dilapidated incubator and listens to his faint cry, mixed with the muted sound of the equipment.

The mother of six is increasingly concerned about the survival of Hisham al-Lahham, who was just days old, breathing with the help of equipment and being fed through a tube in his tiny nose.

Most alarming is that the medical-grade formula he needs to survive is running out.

"There is no milk," the 24-year-old mother told The Associated Press. He needs it to "to get better, to live and to see life."

Hisham is among 580 premature babies at risk of death from starvation across the war-battered Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Khodeir and others blame Israel’s blockade for the plight of their children. Doctors say that although some formula has been delivered, the situation is dire. Their desperation comes as the war in Gaza has been overshadowed by the Israel-Iran war.

"These babies have no time ... and no voice," said Dr. Ahmed al-Farah, head of the pediatrics and obstetrics department at Nasser Hospital, the main medical facility still partially functional in southern Gaza.

'An avoidable disaster'

Khodeir's son is one of 10 babies in incubators at Nasser's neonatal intensive care unit. Last week, al-Farah rang the alarm, saying the hospital’s stock of medical-grade formula was "completely depleted."

He said the tiny babies who relied on it would face "an avoidable disaster" in two to three days.

His pleas were answered, in part, by the delivery of 20 boxes of formula sent over the weekend by a US aid group, Rahma Worldwide. The new delivery is enough to cover the needs for the 10 infants for up to two weeks, al-Farah said.

Al-Farah, however, expressed concern about future deliveries, saying that it wasn’t guaranteed that more formula would be allowed into Gaza.

"This is not enough at all," he said. "It solved the problem temporarily, but what we need is a permeant solution: Lift the siege."

Meanwhile, fortified formula required for newborns is already out of stock at Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City, its director, Dr. Jamil Suliman, said.

"Many mothers are unable to breastfeed due to severe malnutrition," he said, warning of a looming crisis.

Infants are among the hardest hit by Israel’s blockade, which started on March 2 with the complete ban of any food, water, shelter or medication.

Under mounting international pressure and repeated warnings of famine from the United Nations, Israel began allowing what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called "minimal" aid, starting May 19.

Since then, more than 1,000 tons of baby food, including formula, have entered Gaza, according to COGAT, the Israeli defense agency in charge of aid coordination in the Palestinian territory.

"Food for babies is certainly entering (the Gaza Strip), as the organizations are requesting it, we are approving it, and there is no withholding of food for babies," a COGAT spokesperson said.

But Gaza’s health officials say that for these babies, that aid hasn't included enough critical medicine, formula, medical equipment, and spare parts to keep the existing equipment operational.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights said in a report Monday that fortified infant formula was nearly depleted from local markets, with several types already completely out of stock.

"Any limited quantities available in some pharmacies are being sold at skyrocketing prices, far beyond the purchasing power of most families," it said.

COGAT said the baby food is being distributed mostly through international organizations — not via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed private contractor that has drawn criticism from other groups. Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have opened fire on crowds heading to GHF sites. The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots.

Israel has defended its blockade

Israel has said the blockade aims to pressure Hamas into releasing the 50 hostages it still holds from its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that sparked the war. Fewer than half are still believed to be alive.

Israel has accused Hamas of siphoning aid, without providing evidence. The United Nations says there's been no significant diversion of aid.

Gunmen killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage on Oct. 7. Most of the hostages have been released by ceasefire agreements.

The war has unleashed unrelenting destruction, with more than 56,000 Palestinians killed and more than 131,00 wounded in Israel's offensive, according to Gaza health officials. The officials don't distinguish between combatants and civilians but say more than half the casualties are women and children.

The war and the blockade have sparked a humanitarian crisis, creating shortages of the most basic necessities and pushing Gaza’s health care system to the brink of collapse.

Seventeen of the enclave's 36 hospitals remain partially functioning, providing health care to more than 2 million people amid bombings, rising malnutrition rates and dwindling medical supplies.

"Starvation is increasing," said Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN's humanitarian affairs office for the occupied Palestinian territories. More than 110 children have been admitted for treatment for malnutrition every day since the start of this year, he said.

"Our warehouses stand empty while Israel restricts shipments to minimal quantities of mainly medical supplies and food," Whittall added.

A crisis at Gaza's hospitals

Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that all medical facilities in Gaza are operating in unsanitary and overcrowded conditions and have serious shortages of essential health care goods, including medicine and vaccines.

"Since the start of the hostilities in Gaza, women and girls are going through pregnancy lacking basic health care, sanitation, water, and food," said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. "They and their newborns are at constant risk of preventable death."

The Health Ministry has repeatedly warned that medical supplies and fuel were running out at hospitals, which use fuel-powered generators amid crippling power outages.

Whittall said hospitals were forced to ration the little fuel they have "to prevent a complete shutdown of more life-saving services."

"Unless the total blockade on fuel entering Gaza is lifted, we will face more senseless and preventable death," he said.

Nasser Hospital was forced to cut off electricity for some departments, despite the nonstop flow of patients, as part of a plan to save fuel, said Ismail Abu-Nimer, head of engineering and maintenance.

Supplies have been running out amid the influx of wounded people, many coming from areas close to aid distribution centers, said Dr. Mohammad Saqer, Nasser's director of nursing.

"The situation here is terrifying, immoral, and inhumane," he said.