Israel: Netanyahu taken to hospital over Yom Kippur

Former Israeli prime minister and Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu was taken to the hospital and underwent medical tests after feeling unwell during prayers on Yom Kippur, his office said Wednesday.

“Former prime minister Netanyahu felt unwell while praying at synagogue. He underwent a series of tests on site that came out normal and now he feels well,” read a statement by his office.

It added that he would undergo further checks at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center “to remove any doubt.”

A second statement said Netanyahu, who will be 73 years old this month, was fasting at the time he felt unwell, and according to an unsourced report by Kan public broadcaster, he suffered from chest pains.

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which began on Tuesday at sundown and ended Wednesday evening, is marked by a 25-hour fast. Paramedics annually treat hundreds of people who faint, are dehydrated, or feel ill due to the fast.

Click here for an Explainer on the holiest day in Judaism.

"I wish Binyamin Netanyahu a speedy recovery and full recovery. Only Health," Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a tweet tagging the Likud leader.

Israel's November 1 election will be its fifth vote in less than four years. It could oust the centrist Lapid and see the return of Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier, who is on trial over corruption charges, which he denies.

Lapid was the architect of an alliance that ended Netanyahu's record 12 consecutive years in power in 2021.