Netanyahu returns home from hospital

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center on Monday evening, his office said, adding that the premier was receiving unspecified dental treatment.

The Prime Minister’s Office issued the statement after Hebrew media reported that he had been taken to the hospital. It updated on Tuesday morning that he went home later on Monday night.

The 76-year-old premier’s health has become a major focus after several incidents that exposed him to criticism over the withholding of medical information from the public. They have led to considerable speculation among many in Israel as to the prime minister’s overall health.

Last month, Netanyahu revealed in a lengthy social media post that he had recently undergone successful radiation treatment at Hadassah for a malignant tumor in his prostate, but had held off on informing the public, claiming Iran would have used the information to spread propaganda against Israel in the midst of the recent war.

He did not specify when he was diagnosed, when he began treatment, or when treatment had ended.

Netanyahu’s announcement was accompanied by the release of his annual health report along with an additional document on his cancer diagnosis and treatment, though the report consisted of five vague bullet points covering half a page, and did not even say what year it covered. Neither document bore a hospital logo or any indication that they were formal medical statements.

Netanyahu also had a pacemaker implanted in July 2023, a hernia surgery in March 2024, and a prostate removal surgery in December 2024.

At the time Netanyahu received the pacemaker, initial reports stated that he had stayed overnight at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan for what his office and the hospital said was dehydration monitoring. However, questions surfaced about the premier’s overall health after the hospital announced that he had, in fact, been fitted with a subcutaneous heart monitor.

The doctors acknowledged a week later that they had spotted irregularities in an electrocardiogram test when he was hospitalized, but had nonetheless assured the public that the premier’s heart was “completely normal.”