Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu taken to hospital for heart procedure, placed under sedation

Benjamin Netanyahu. Pic/AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said early on Sunday that he was undergoing a procedure to receive a pacemaker.

In a short statement, Netanyahu's office said Israel's leader would be placed under sedation. A top deputy, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, was to stand in for him. The procedure comes one week after Netanyahu was hospitalised for what his office described as dehydration.

Netanyahu's office made the announcement as Israel faces widespread street protests over Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul plan. The plan has triggered months of protests, with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets Saturday night to demonstrate against it ahead of a key parliament vote Monday.

Levin is the mastermind of the overhaul plan. Netanyahu's office said the prime minister would receive the pacemaker at Israel's Sheba Hospital, where he was treated last week as well. It gave few other details but quoted Netanyahu as saying, 'The efforts to reach a wide agreement are continuing.'

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