Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was rushed to hospital early Sunday morning for heart surgery to have a pacemaker implanted, creating new uncertainty over his government’s deeply controversial plan to pass legislation on Monday to limit judicial powers.
Doctors at Sheba Medical Center, east of Tel Aviv, said on Sunday morning that the unexpected surgery had been successful and that “the prime minister is doing very well”.
But Mr. Netanyahu is expected to stay in the hospital until at least Monday, a hospital spokesman said. The government’s weekly cabinet meeting, originally scheduled for Sunday morning, has been postponed until Monday, and it is unclear whether a vote in Parliament on judicial reform will go ahead as planned that day.
Netanyahu’s operation comes amid what many consider Israel’s most serious domestic crisis since its founding 75 years ago.
The prime minister was hospitalized hours after street protests escalated, threatening strikes and warning from thousands of reservists that they would refuse to volunteer if the judicial overhaul goes ahead.
The moves have put pressure on Mr Netanyahu, who a group of former military commanders, police commissioners and intelligence agency chiefs accused on Saturday night of dividing the country and jeopardizing its security by pushing for a judicial overhaul.
Netanyahu’s government wants to limit the ways the Supreme Court can overturn government decisions. The prime minister said the plan would improve democracy by giving elected lawmakers greater autonomy over unelected judges.
But opponents say it would remove a key check for government transgressions and allow Mr Netanyahu’s far-right ruling coalition – the most radical and radical coalition in Israel’s history – to create a less pluralistic society.
Critics are also concerned that Mr. Netanyahu, who is currently on trial for corruption, could use the weakened Supreme Court to push for other changes that could undermine his prosecution. Mr. Netanyahu denied both the corruption allegations and any claims that he would use his position to circumvent the trial.
Protests against the overhaul entered their 29th straight week on Saturday night, as tens of thousands of people demonstrated. march into Jerusalem from the mountains outside the city, blocking sections of the major highway with blue and white Israeli flags. Some of the marchers walked for five days, after setting off from Tel Aviv, about 40 miles away, on Tuesday night.
Hours later, the country’s main labor union said it was considering a general strike, rarely coordinated with the country’s largest coalition of business leaders. And a group representing 10,000 reservists said their members would give up military service if the overhaul took place without the consent of society – adding their names to a smaller group of 1,000 Air Force reservists that issued a similar threat on Friday.
The reserve force warnings have led to concerns in the defense establishment about Israel’s military readiness. The Israel Defense Forces rely heavily on reserves, especially the Air Force.
Citing these concerns, a group of 15 retired military commanders, former police commissioners and former directors of domestic and foreign intelligence agencies wrote a public letter to Mr. Netanyahu on Saturday night, calling him “a person directly responsible for the serious damage to the IDF and Israeli security.”
Hours later, the prime minister began to develop abnormalities in his heart, which doctors at Sheba Medical Center later described as a “transient atrioventricular block.” The anomaly was detected by a heart monitor installed in Sheba less than a week ago, after Mr Netanyahu was rushed to hospital after a bout of dizziness.
