“A follow-up of several weeks became necessary” due to surgery.
By United with Israel Staff and JNS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday postponed planned trips this week to Cyprus and Turkey, after undergoing surgery to receive a cardiac pacemaker implant.
“After Netanyahu underwent a medical procedure, a follow-up of several weeks became necessary. The state visits have been delayed,” a source in the Prime Minister’s Office said, according to JNS.
The weekly cabinet meeting and a Likud faction meetings were likewise delayed.
Ahead of the operation, Netanyahu released a video in which he stated, “A week ago they put in a monitoring device. That device beeped this evening and said I need to receive a pacemaker. I need to do this already tonight. I’m feeling excellent, but I’m listening to my doctors.”
Last weekend, Netanyahu had been admitted to Sheba hospital after feeling unwell and apparently suffering from dehydration. Hospital officials later said the prime minister had been fitted with a heart monitor.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been scheduled to travel to Turkey for an official visit on July 28, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Thursday.
Netanyahu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan planned to discuss bilateral ties and steps to improve relations, Erdoğan’s office added in a statement, in what would be the first-ever meeting between the two leaders.
No Israeli premier has visited Turkey since Ehud Olmert in 2008.
The announcement came just 24 hours after King Mohammed VI of Morocco invited Netanyahu to visit the North African country for the first time.