Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was rushed to the hospital early Sunday for an emergency implantation of a heart pacemaker, plunging Israel into deeper turmoil after widespread protests over his contentious judicial overhaul plan.
A physician at the Sheba Medical Center said later that the procedure went well and Netanyahu felt fine. In announcing the hospitalization, Netanyahu’s office said that he would be sedated and that a top deputy, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, would stand in for him while he underwent the procedure.
In a brief video statement before the implantation, Netanyahu said he “feels excellent” and planned to push forward with the judicial overhaul as soon as he was released.
Netanyahu’s announcement, issued well after midnight, came a week after he was hospitalized at Sheba for what was described as dehydration. It also came after a tumultuous day that saw some of the largest protests to date against the judicial overhaul plan.
Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across Israel on Saturday night, while thousands marched into Jerusalem and camped out near the Knesset, or parliament, ahead of a vote expected Monday that would approve a key portion of the overhaul.
Further ratcheting up the pressure on the Israeli leader, over 100 retired security chiefs came out in favor of the growing ranks of military reservists who say they will stop reporting for duty if the plan is passed.
Netanyahu and his far-right allies announced the overhaul plan in January, days after taking office. They claim the plan is needed to curb what they say are the excessive powers of unelected judges.
Critics say the plan will destroy the country’s system of checks and balances and put it on the path toward authoritarian rule. U.S. President Joe Biden has urged Netanyahu to halt the plan and seek a broad consensus.
Netanyahu, 73, keeps a busy schedule and his office says he is in good health. But over the years, it has released few details or medical records. On July 15, he was rushed to Sheba with dizziness. He later said he had been out in the hot sun and had not drunk enough water.
His return for the pacemaker procedure indicated his health troubles were more serious than initially indicated. In the video, Netanyahu said that he was outfitted with a monitor after last week’s hospitalization and that when an alarm beeped late Saturday, it meant he required a pacemaker right away.
According to the Times of Israel, a full civil war may be imminent in Israel. It’s hard to imagine, looking at the incredible sunrise over the hills here in the Galilee this morning, that just a few hours ago our kibbutz was being ripped apart by supporters of our neighbor, Likud MK Amichai Chikli.
For months now, every Friday at exactly 16:30, peaceful demonstrations have taken place outside his house. Nearer our backyard than his, in fact, for his personal guards set up fences to ensure they are not too near his actual residence.
This means the demonstrations take place on the doorsteps of all of his neighbors’ houses. Week after week we have listened to the cries of “Democracy” and “Shame on you!” and although the majority of our kibbutz is pluralistic, tolerant, peace-loving, kind, left-wing citizens very much against Netanyahu and his attempts to turn our country into a dictatorship, many of us have tried to stay out of it.
After all, Amichai is our neighbor. His wife is absolutely lovely and his children are adorable. Who are we to make their lives miserable by presenting them every Shabbat eve with the horrors of which their father is guilty?
But as things have gotten worse and worse, as Chikli has become more and more extreme, calling the very people who are trying to save this country from dictatorship, ‘anarchists’ and ‘criminals’, showing he is against the very foundations of the Conservative Judaism movement on which this kibbutz is built,
making statements against our Arab neighbors and friends, some of us finally decided we could no longer be quiet. After all, everybody knows, all it takes for evil to happen is for good people to stand by and do nothing. We were no longer prepared to do anything.
First, we tried writing to Chikli. He denied saying anything unpleasant. We tried inviting him to sit with us and talk. He accepted and told us he did not care what we thought about him, after all, we are not the people voting for him.
We tried some more – with many texts, voice messages and conversations, which made absolutely no difference. He continued to abuse the very people he is living amongst.
And so we realized we had no choice but to be more radical. We made the video you see here – the respectful, carefully constructed, honest and sincere video which simply shows what he has been doing – describing protesters as “anarchists” who are “driven by a hunger for power” – and asking him to think about it, and stop.
As Elad says in the video, “Every time you incite against ‘anarchists,’ think of us, your neighbors from Hannaton, from the community, who go out to demonstrations because we are worried about the country.”
Meanwhile, Some 10,000 reservists from throughout the IDF will no longer show up for service, they announced in a press conference on Saturday evening, according to N12. These reservists are joining more than 1,000 Air Force reservists who made the same announcement in a letter on Friday.
“This is one of the most difficult evenings for the State of Israel, but it’s also one of the most important in the state’s history,” said Brothers in Arms leader Eyal Neve.
“We represent some 10,000 reservists who are telling the government, the defense minister and the prime minister the responsibility is on you! If you want us on your side as we’ve served under right and left-wing governments, we are calling on you to stop the legislation.”
“I’ve served om the Air Force for 35 years,” said a former fighter pilot. “The people in the force are my family, and this is a difficult day for us. The deep commitment to Judaism and democracy is the inner fuel of our engine. Our statement is clear: If the government violates the basic values and becomes a dictatorship, we won’t serve.”
“We are fighting for the dearest thing to us so that our kids can continue to live here,” said another Brothers in Arms leader Ron Sheref. “This government is fighting against the state’s values and against the spirit of the IDF.
There is an incredible list here of people from all the units. Everyone here is the people of Israel who only want to go back to living in a democratic country without waking up every morning with someone threatening them and their basic values.”
