Netanyahu suffering from food poisoning, his office says, after he skipped cabinet meeting

After reports emerged that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu missed this morning’s weekly cabinet meeting, his office releases a statement that he is ill and will be working from home for the next three days.

Netanyahu began feeling sick overnight, says the Prime Minister’s Office, and was examined at his home by Dr. Alon Hershko, director of internal medicine department at Hadassah University Hospital — Ein Kerem.

Hershko diagnosed the prime minister with intestinal inflammation resulting from eating spoiled food.

Netanyahu’s condition was declared good after further testing, says his office, adding that he is receiving intravenous fluids following dehydration that resulted from the illness.

“In accordance with his doctors’ instructions, the prime minister will rest at home for the next three days and will conduct state affairs from there,” says the PMO.

Netanyahu, 75, has battled health issues in recent years. He had his prostate removed in late December, and in March 2024, he was had hernia surgery. That same month, he missed several days of work after contracting the flu.

In 2023, he underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed after suffering a transient heart block. A week earlier he he had been hospitalized for what he said at the time was dehydration. Doctors subsequently revealed that the prime minister has had a heart conduction problem for years.

A medical report released in January 2023, the last shared with the public, said Netanyahu was in a “completely normal state of health,” that his pacemaker was working correctly and that there was no evidence of heart arrhythmia or any other problematic conditions.