BAD TIMING

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Undergo Pacemaker Surgery

The surgery is scheduled not long before voting begins on a divisive judicial reform plan Netanyahu has backed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo a surgery to install a pacemaker device just before a vote on a divisive plan to reduce the power of Israel’s Supreme Court. The news of the planned procedure comes roughly a week after the Israeli president was rushed to the hospital and equipped with a heart monitor, The Jerusalem Post reported. “I feel great, but I listen to my doctors,” Netanyahu said in a video posted to social media. In the coming days, Israel’s legislature is expected to begin voting on Netanyahu's controversial judicial reform bill, which has sparked major protests and received pushback from the country's armed forces. “The doctors said I'll be released from the hospital tomorrow by the afternoon and I'll be able to arrive at the Knesset for the vote,” Netanyahu said.