PM’s medical entourage for trips abroad revealed in freedom of information request

The identity of doctors who accompany Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his trips abroad has been revealed, Channel 12 reported Monday, with the list showing the premier takes a top cardiologist with him when he leaves the country.

The Movement for Freedom of Information filed the request for information from the Prime Minister’s Office. It showed that since 2023, the year he had a pacemaker fitted, Netanyahu, 75, has not flown abroad without a cardiologist accompanying him.

The Prime Minister’s Office has not published a complete review of Netanyahu’s health details.

The director of the Movement for Freedom of Information, Hiddai Negev, said there is “ambiguity” regarding the prime minister’s physical and cognitive health.

The released information showed that cardiologist Zvi Sirotkin accompanied Netanyahu on three trips to the US, once in 2023 and twice in 2024.

Urologist Mordechai Duvdevani also went on the last trip in February this year, as was orthopedic specialist Eyal Heller.

The team is led by Netanyahu’s personal physician, Herman Berkovits.

Negev said medical reporting on Netanyahu’s health should be “detailed and visible to the general public,” in particular since the prime minister has no permanent official replacement.

“The prime minister would do well to issue an independent and detailed medical report of medical and cognitive tests, and apply higher standards of transparency to himself,” Negev said. “In doing so, he would dispel any rumors on the subject.”

At the end of May, Netanyahu underwent a successful routine colonoscopy at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, his office said at the time.

The cabinet appointed Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who also holds the post of deputy prime minister, as acting premier while Netanyahu underwent the procedure.

Netanyahu had his prostate removed in late December, with Levin similarly filling in as premier during the surgery, which came after a test at a Jerusalem hospital apparently revealed a urinary tract infection stemming from a benign enlargement of the prostate.

In March 2024, the premier was put under full anesthesia to undergo surgery for a hernia. 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. The surgery came a week after he was 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 2024, the last one 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.

Despite protocols requiring prime ministers to release such health reports annually, Netanyahu did not release one between 2016 and late 2023, and has not done so this year. He cannot be legally forced to share his health information as these protocols, developed by the Prime Minister’s Office, are not enshrined in law.