Israeli doctors reveal Netanyahu's chronic heart problem only after implanting pacemaker

After undergoing emergency surgery to implant a pacemaker, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 73, made a video appearance from a hospital near Tel Aviv. He declared energetically that he felt “great, as you can see.”

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 July 23 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 Mr. Netanyahu has gone to great lengths to bolster.

A week after a fainting spell, Mr. Netanyahu was urgently fitted with a pacemaker to control his heartbeat. Only then did staff at the Sheba Medical Center reveal July 23 night that Mr. Netanyahu has for years experienced a condition that can cause irregular heartbeats.

Until July 23, the cardiologists had publicly played down concerns, saying the Prime Minister was dehydrated and describing his heartbeat as “completely normal.” The sudden revelations about Mr. 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 July. 24

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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 July 24. 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.