Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on the floor of the Israeli parliament on Tuesday for a crucial vote related to the budget, despite doctors’ objections following a prostate operation on Sunday night, the news agency reports. Israeli Tazpit Press Service (TPS).
Netanyahu, 75, was accompanied to the Knesset Plenum by his personal physician, Dr. Tzvi Berkowitz, and seemed in good spirits as he took his seat for a brief appearance. The Israeli leader went under the knife on Sunday to have his prostate removed after suffering a urinary tract infection, which was allegedly “due to a benign enlargement of his prostate,” according to Netanyahu’s office.
Two parties in Israel’s ruling coalition threaten to vote against the “Locked Profits Law” if their demands are not met.
Despite his doctor’s objection, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived for a critical vote in his country’s parliament. Netanyahu is recovering from surgery. (Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)
ISRAELI PM BENJAMIN NETANYAHU COMPLETES PROSTATE SURGERY AFTER UTI DIAGNOSIS
The bill would allow the government to tax so-called “trapped profits,” profits retained by corporations and multinationals to reinvest in business growth, infrastructure and research. Until now, trapped profits were exempt from taxes to encourage investments.
Failure to pass the bill could jeopardize passage of the state budget, which must be passed by March 31 or the government will automatically fall, triggering national elections.
The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, which controls seven seats in the Knesset, said it would vote against the bill as a warning about the government’s failure to advance legislation that exempts haredim, or Orthodox Jewish citizens, from of military service.
The question of exempting haredim has sparked heated debate in recent months. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) began making plans to recruit yeshiva students after Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled in June that exemptions for the Haredi community were illegal, according to the TPS.
UTJ’s leading minister, Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf, insists the party will maintain its opposition if the exemption bill is not advanced.
The Otzma Yehudit party, which also controls seven seats, also disagrees.
Its leader, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, is demanding a bigger budget for the police, prison service and firefighting agencies and has promised to vote against the bill until his demands are met, according to TPS.
Netanyahu’s government is made up of seven parties with 68 of 120 seats.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the Knesset for a vote. (Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)
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On Sunday, Netanyahu’s office announced that the surgery “was completed successfully and without complications.”
The Israeli leader has undergone several health procedures over the past two years. In March, Netanyahu underwent hernia surgery under full anesthesia, with Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin temporarily taking over during the process.
Months before the October 7 attacks, Netanyahu suffered dehydration and was admitted to a hospital in July 2023. The Israeli leader said he became dehydrated after visiting the Sea of Galilee without water or solar protection during a heat wave.
A week after being admitted for dehydration, Netanyahu’s doctors implanted a pacemaker to regulate his heart rate and rhythm.
Netanyahu’s latest operation came as the 75-year-old politician continues to testify in a corruption case against him in Israel. He took the stand in early December and is expected to continue testifying in the new year.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israeli Knesset just a day after a serious operation. (Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)
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Netanyahu also currently leads the IDF on multiple fronts across the Middle East and continues to target Iranian terrorists and their proxies.
The IDF recently launched multiple attacks against Houthi rebels, hitting Sana’a International Airport in Yemen and Houthi infrastructure in the ports of Al-Hudaydah, Salif and Ras Kanatib.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces also carried out multiple precision strikes against Iranian-backed Houthi targets in Sanaa and coastal locations within Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen on December 30 and 31, Fox has learned. Information.
The attacks are part of CENTCOM’s effort to degrade efforts by the Iranian-backed Houthis to threaten regional partners and military and merchant vessels in the region.
Fox Information Digital’s Anders Hagstrom and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
