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Secret Ambulance Has Followed Netanyahu Since His Last Heart Attack – Israeli Politics

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Walla announced on Thursday that a rescue vehicle disguised as a Savanna van had joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s convoy in recent months.

Officials in the prime minister’s office say it is a security procedure when he travels “long distances” from hospitals for operational reasons. Walla found documents from across the country that contradict the claim.

In recent months, a secret ambulance has been added to the Prime Minister’s secure motorcade in case of a medical emergency.

This is how Wala found out. The ambulance, unidentified and disguised as a civilian Savannah vehicle, travels at the back of Netanyahu’s convoy. Two reliable sources close to Netanyahu told Walla that it was an emergency medical vehicle that joined the prime minister’s convoy after he suffered a heart attack last summer and has closely accompanied the convoy since then.

The ambulance is unmarked, disguised as a civilian Savannah van and travels at the back of Netanyahu’s convoy.

Ambulance (Source: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)

Two reliable sources close to Netanyahu told Walla that it was an emergency medical vehicle that joined the prime minister’s convoy after he suffered a heart attack last summer and has closely accompanied the convoy since then.

Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed to Walla that it was indeed an ambulance, but said it was not a change in policy but rather a security procedure for an emergency vehicle intended to accompany the Prime Minister as he went to work “Distances” from hospitals.

However, Walla has documents from recent months showing that the ambulance traveled in convoys in Caesarea, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which are not “great distances” from hospitals.

Conversations with multiple sources who worked in the prime minister’s office under Netanyahu, Bennett and Lapid in recent years suggested that the emergency vehicle had only been used over long distances in very exceptional cases in the past and was not an integral part of the routine convoy most of the country.

The Prime Minister’s Office and Shin Bet (Israeli Security Service) told Walla: “We do not comment on security arrangements.”

Netanyahu’s previous operations

Netanyahu underwent two operations under general anesthesia last year.

Earlier this month, he was hospitalized for hernia surgery at Hadassah-University Medical Center in Ein Kerem.

In July last year, he suffered a heart attack that left him hospitalized twice at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer and a pacemaker implanted.

Initially, the Prime Minister’s Office concealed the reason for the hospitalization, claiming it was “dehydration”, but after the second hospitalization they admitted it was a heart problem. Netanyahu was sedated and ventilated during both operations.

In late December, the prime minister’s office released a sort of annual health report with two documents signed by three doctors treating Netanyahu.

It was not an official medical report because it lacked many details about his health and medical history, as is common for leaders in Western countries and also found in a non-binding procedure for prime ministers in Israel.

MK Naama Lazimi and other petitioners, including doctors and psychiatrists, the families of the Nova victims and survivors of the Beeri massacre, filed a petition with the Supreme Court in March demanding the release of Netanyahu’s full health declaration.

The petition claims that the “medical report” released by the Prime Minister’s Office raises concerns about Netanyahu’s health and underscores the need to appoint a permanent deputy.

Netanyahu traditionally refused to appoint himself as deputy, instead appointing Justice Minister Jariv Lewin as a temporary deputy during the operations he was forced to undergo.

The medical report released by the Prime Minister’s Office in 2023 contained two documents.

The first document, written by Netanyahu’s personal and family doctor Dr. Zvika Berkovich and Prof. Alon Pikarsky, director of the Department of General Surgery at Hadassah-University Medical Center, said Netanyahu’s medical condition was “fully functional.”

The document also states: “The Prime Minister is under strict and routine medical monitoring. Last year, he underwent routine annual physicals with no unusual findings. Prof. Roy Beinert will discuss the cardiac event that occurred this year separately. The Prime Minister maintains a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition.”

Prof. Beinert, head of the Arrhythmia Institute at Sheba Medical Center, treated Netanyahu during his hospital stays last year.

The second document, compiled by Prof. Beinert, states that he is “undergoing routine and follow-up treatment at Sheba Medical Center.” The pacemaker was implanted in his body following an examination he underwent during his hospital stay a few months ago. Since then there has been no evidence of cardiac arrhythmias or other events.

Beinert wrote that Netanyahu did not require any treatment other than required routine follow-up care from pacemaker wearers.



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