Itongadol.- Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu underwent a routine gastrointestinal test on Wednesday, during which a small polyp was removed from his colon.
The procedure was carried out at Jerusalem\’s Shaare Tzedek Medical Center by the head of the gastroenterology department, Dr. Eran Goldin.
Netanyahu, 64, will not be going into work at the Prime Minister\’s Office on Wednesday. He does have meetings scheduled on Thursday, including with US Secretary of State John Kerry His authority as prime minister was briefly transferred to Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman while he was under anesthesia. .
Wednesday\’s test completes his annual check-up, with the PMO quoting his personal physician, Dr. Zvi Herman- Berkowitz, as saying the prime minister\’s blood and blood-pressure tests were all normal. The statement said the prime minister maintains a healthy life-style, including proper nutrition and regular exercise. He recently underwent a stress test that found him in the top ten percentile for his age group. On Friday night Netanyahu checked into Hadera\’s Hillel Yaffe Hospital complaining of headaches and sinus pressure. In August he underwent an emergency hernia operation.
Annual public reports on the prime minister’s health were instituted by former prime minister Ehud Olmert following the strokes that incapacitated his predecessor Ariel Sharon in 2005 and 2006. At the time there was criticism that the public was not made aware on a regular basis of the prime minister’s health condition.