Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was taken to hospital early Sunday for an emergency procedure related to implanting a pacemaker, as the country is currently rocked by intense protests over his controversial judicial overhaul plan.
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu will be sedated and Justice Minister Yariv Levin will stand in for him while he undergoes the emergency procedure, the AP reports.
Shortly before being taken to hospital, Netanyahu said he was “feeling great” and promised to press ahead with his controversial plan, despite thousands taking to the streets on Monday to protest a vote that would approve a major part of the judicial overhaul.
Health problems for the Israeli PM appear to be more serious than initially indicated, as Netanyahu revealed that an alarm in a monitor in his office showed he urgently needed a pacemaker. This comes after Netanyahu was hospitalized last week due to dehydration.
Meanwhile, protesters over the judicial overhaul plan marched in Jerusalem and camped near the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. Pressure mounted on Netanyahu as more than 100 retired security chiefs and military reservists threatened to stop reporting to duty if the government went ahead with the plan.
About the controversial judicial reform plan
Israel’s political crisis began when Netanyahu and his religious and ultra-nationalist allies announced a judicial overhaul in January, the most right-wing in Israel’s history, just days after forming his government.
The proposal plunges Israel into its worst domestic crisis in decades. Business leaders, top economists and former security chiefs have all come out against the plan, saying it is pushing the country towards dictatorship.
The plan would give Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption, and his allies the final say in appointing the country’s judges. The government initially sought to pass laws that would give the Knesset, as Israel’s parliament is called, the power to overturn Supreme Court decisions and limit judicial review of laws.
But critics say the laws would erode Israel’s system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the ruling coalition, pushing it towards authoritarian rule. They also say that Netanyahu has a conflict of interest because of his corruption trial.
In late June, Netanyahu announced he had abandoned one of the most important parts of his controversial planned judicial overhaul amid months of protests against his controversial plans.
However, the decision was apparently unable to satisfy protest leaders, who said the changes had not gone far enough and that their demonstrations against the legal change would continue to be held.
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