Netanyahu Says Hes Very Well After Being Rushed to Hospital

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said he was feeling “very well” on Saturday evening after experiencing mild dizziness and being rushed to a hospital for examination.

Mr. Netanyahu, 73, caused a brief panic on Saturday afternoon when his office announced that he had checked into the Sheba Medical Center, a leading hospital near Tel Aviv.

In a statement, his office said that the prime minister had felt mildly dizzy on Saturday and went to the medical center on the advice of his personal physician, Dr. Zvi Berkowitz.

Concerns subsided hours later after Mr. Netanyahu released a video in which he appeared energetic and healthy, and explained how he had ended up in the hospital.

Mr. Netanyahu said he had spent Friday in the sun at the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel, where temperatures reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit, “with no hat, without water — not a good idea.”

“Thank heavens, I’m feeling very well,” Mr. Netanyahu added. “I have just one request of you: We’re undergoing a heat wave in this country. So I ask of you: Spend less time in the sun, drink more water, and may we all have a good week.”

A spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu said on Saturday that the prime minister was fully conscious during the journey to the hospital and subsequent tests, and that he was joking with the hospital’s staff and doctors. It was later announced that he would stay the night at the center.

“Initial tests have been normal and shown no findings,” the prime minister’s office said in a statement. “The initial assessment is dehydration. At the doctors’ recommendation, the P.M. is continuing to undergo additional routine tests.”

A spokesman for the medical center confirmed the details.

Mr. Netanyahu was briefly hospitalized in October, after feeling pain in his chest in the weeks before last year’s election. He was filmed jogging the next morning. He was also briefly hospitalized in 2018 after suffering from a fever.

Mr. Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister and is currently facing one of the most challenging periods of his political career. The prime minister is on trial for corruption, and his coalition — the most right-wing in Israel’s history — has set off a political crisis by advancing plans to limit judicial oversight of the government.

The plan has set off a monthslong wave of political protest in Israel, which continued with mass demonstrations on Saturday night; deepened longstanding social divides; drawn strong criticism from the Biden administration; and prompted widespread fears of civil war.

If Mr. Netanyahu proceeds with the plan, he risks provoking a general strike, as well as mass resignations from military reservists, who form a key part of Israel’s military capacity. If he suspends the plan, he risks angering his political allies and collapsing his coalition.

Carol Sutherland contributed reporting from Moshav Ben Ami, Israel.