Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo a routine gastroscopy on Friday morning that is to last for about half an hour. Netanyahu is to be under for the exam, and will be accompanied by his personal physician, Dr. Zvi Herman Berkowitz. In his place, Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev will act as prime minister.
Regev had similarly stood in for Netanyahu last June, when Netanyahu took off for a governmental meeting in Thessaloniki, Greece, to meet with the leaders of Greece and Cyprus. Netanyahu had told Regev would she would be Israel's acting prime minister over a telephone conversation. Regev responded by jokingly telling him, "I'll let you know if I happen to start a coup."
Six months ago, Netanyahu underwent a medical procedure under sedation for the removal of gall bladder stone. Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Minister of Environmental Protection Ze'ev Elkin was the acting prime minister during the examination.
In December 2015, Netanyahu also underwent a colonoscopy examination under sedation. Jerusalem's Sha'are Zedek Medical Center Gastro Department Head, Prof. Eran Goldin, performed the procedure to reveal several polyps, which were then successfully removed.
A few years earlier, Netanyahu had undergone a similar examination during which a polyp was discovered, removed, examined and found to be benign.
At the beginning of 2015, Netanyahu underwent an experimental medical procedure related to the prostate gland at the Mayanei HaYeshua Medical Center in the central city of Bnei Brak. Netanyahu was brought to the hospital under a veil of secrecy, in vehicles disguised as a pita delivery service and a pest control company car.
In January 2014, his powers were transferred for an hour to then-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, during a colonoscopy examination that also required sedation.
In August 2013, Netanyahu underwent an operation following the discovery of an umbilical hernia. His duties were temporarily transferred for one day to then-defense minister Moshe Ya'alon.