Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hospitalised after feeling 'dizzy'

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was hospitalised on Saturday after feeling "dizzy", his office said, adding the politically and legally beleaguered 73-year-old was likely dehydrated but "in good condition".

"The prime minister arrived at the Sheba medical centre a short while ago," Netanyahu's office said in a statement of Israel's largest hospital, located near Tel Aviv.

"He is in good condition and undergoing medical evaluations," the statement said.

In a second statement, his office said Netanyahu on Friday spent time in the scorching heat of the Sea of Galilee, in Israel's north.

"Today, he felt slightly dizzy, and at the advice of his personal physician, Dr Zvi Berkowitz, was taken to Sheba's emergency department," the statement said.

"The initial examinations showed normal findings," it added. "The initial evaluation is dehydration."

The premier will undergo a series of further tests, his office said.

Netanyahu, who was reelected late last year, is heading a hard-right coalition whose proposed judicial overhaul has triggered weekly demonstrations since January.

The premier is also standing trial for corruption charges he denies.

Multiple terms

In October, Netanyahu was hospitalised for overnight. His office said at the time he was feeling ill while observing the Jewish fast of Yom Kippur.

Netanyahu  is Israel's longest serving leader. He has served multiple terms stretching over 15 years in office. His current far-right government, a collection of religious and ultranationalist parties, took office last December.

Netanyahu is said to be in generally good health, though he was briefly hospitalized last October after feeling unwell during prayers on Yom Kippur, day when observant Jews fast.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have held weekly demonstrations against Netanyahu's government to protest his plan to overhaul the country's judiciary.

Netanyahu's allies say the plan is needed to rein in the power of unelected judges. But his opponents say the plan will destroy the country's fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of Netanyahu and his allies.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid issued a statement wishing Netanyahu a “full recovery and good health.”

“Feel better,” Lapid said on Twitter.