Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Sunday: "After feeling unwell overnight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu underwent a home examination by Professor Alon Hershko, director of the Department of Internal Medicine at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital." It continued: "It was found that he was suffering from gastroenteritis as a result of eating spoiled food."
His condition has improved "after additional tests," the office said, adding that he is receiving intravenous fluids for the dehydration that accompanied his illness. "Based on his doctors' instructions, the prime minister will rest at home for three days and will manage state affairs from there," it added.
Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu was absent from Sunday's cabinet session, noting that he was supposed to appear before the Tel Aviv Central Court on Monday to respond to the corruption charges against him. Netanyahu appears in court twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays.
Israeli courts are beginning a weekend recess that will last until September, and it is unclear whether judges will schedule hearings for Netanyahu during that time.
evade trial
For her part, Yael Friedson, a legal correspondent for the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz, considered via the X platform that "Netanyahu's announcement of his illness due to spoiled food is a continuation of his attempts to evade questioning," adding, "The judges should schedule additional hearings during the recess period, in light of the exceptional circumstances in which Netanyahu canceled regular hearings."
Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, which could lead to imprisonment if convicted. He is also wanted by international justice, with the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant for him on November 21, 2024, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war of genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide, backed by the United States, left approximately 200,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
For decades, Israel has occupied Palestine and territories in Syria and Lebanon, and refuses to withdraw from these territories and establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the pre-1967 borders.
