(MENAFN- Live Mint) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo surgery on Sunday under full anesthesia to remove his prostate.
“On Wednesday, the prime minister underwent an examination at the Hadassah Hospital, where an infection in the urinary tract resulting from a benign enlargement of the prostate was discovered,” Netanyahu's office said.“Since then, for a few days, he's received antibiotic treatment that eradicated the infection” but doctors opted to go ahead with the operation.
Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Hadad, said in a request filed to court early Sunday that the operation will be done using full anesthesia and that“the prime minister will be in hospital for several days” to recover. He asked that Netanyahu's testimony at his graft trial be canceled for the week and added that he'd further update the court at a later time.
The request was accepted by the prosecution and approved by the court, which tentatively scheduled Jan. 6 for proceedings to resume.
The testimony, which kicked off earlier this month, is scheduled to continue for three days a week, six hours a day, and is expected to stretch over several weeks or even months. Netanyahu is the first sitting premier in Israel's history to take the stand in his own corruption trial.
The graft cases have played havoc with Israel's political life for nearly a decade. The prime minister and his supporters view it as a naked effort by the liberal establishment to remove him from political life - something it has failed to do through the electoral process.
Anger at the judicial establishment led Netanyahu's government to propose an overhaul to the legal system to weaken the courts. That effort has recently been renewed after stalling following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and the war that followed.
The prime minister, 75, is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three different cases. He's alleged to have adjusted regulations to favor major media owners in turn for favorable coverage for him and his family members, and to have received gifts from Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan, whom he tried to assist with his US visa and some tax laws.
Netanyahu has denied all allegations, calling them“absurd.”
The Israeli cabinet's weekly meeting started as scheduled on Sunday morning with Netanyahu in attendance ahead of the surgery set for later in the day.
Netanyahu doesn't have an official, permanent stand-in who could take the reins while he's incapacitated.
One of his cabinet members is usually appointed on an ad-hoc basis in such cases, although it hasn't been announced which minister will be tasked with replacing Netanyahu in the current instance.
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