Olmert: Covert checkups
Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
Olmert undergoes medical tests
For second time in few months prime minister visits hospital without informing public. PM’s office insists checkup was routine, Olmert in good health
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
secretly underwent medical tests at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer two weeks ago, Ynet has learned.
This is not the first time the prime minister chose not to divulge to the public matters concerning his health. News of Olmert’s eyelid surgery was revealed via the media, as the prime minister failed to inform the public with an official announcement.
Sources at Sheba told Ynet that the prime minister visited the Neurology Department during his recent medical checkup. Olmert’s office confirmed the report but claimed that the tests were “routine annual checkups.”
“The test results fully satisfied the doctors,” they noted.
Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office denied that Olmert underwent special neurological tests, adding that there was no reason to notify the public.
Leaders not obligated to report medical condition
Sheba refused to comment, saying, “We do not disclose information in such cases.”
Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s unexpected collapse last year sparked fervent public debate on the question of whether state leaders must update the public on their health status.
At the time, a public demand arose to publish public figures’ medical files, as is customary in many other countries.
In the United States, for example, the president undergoes annual health and fitness testing, which is then officially released to the public. Currently in Israel state leaders are under no obligation to report on their medical condition.
