Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted to hospital

The embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been admitted to hospital.

The leader’s office said he was taken to hospital after feeling dizzy. There are conflicting reports about his condition, however, with Channel 12 TV reporting that he had suffered chest pain – which officials have not confirmed.

Mr Netanyahu, 73, is at Israel’s Sheba Hospital, where he is undergoing medical tests, his team said.

According to a joint statement from the hospital and Mr Netanyahu’s office, he had visited the Sea of Galilee, a popular vacation spot in northern Israel, on Friday. The country is in the midst of a summer heat wave, with temperatures exceeding 36°C.

According to the statement, Mr Netanyahu began to feel “mild dizziness” on Saturday and his doctor instructed him to go to Sheba Hospital, near the city of Tel Aviv.

“Preliminary tests came out normal and nothing abnormal was found,” the statement said. “The initial assessment is dehydration.”

The leaders office said that doctors had recommended he remain in the hospital for further testing.

Walla, a leading Israeli news site, quoted an unnamed official as saying Mr Netanyahu has fainted.

Mr Netanyahu is Israel’s longest-serving leader. He has served multiple terms stretching over 15 years in office. His current government, a collection of religious and far-right ultranationalist parties, took office last December.

Since then he has been dogged by a trial on corruption charges and controversial reforms.

The leader was briefly hospitalized last October after feeling unwell during prayers on Yom Kippur, a day when observant Jews fast.

Tens of thousands of Israelis have held weekly demonstrations against Mr Netanyahu’s government to protest his plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary.

Mr Netanyahu’s allies claim the plan is needed to rein in the power of unelected judges, but his opponents say the plan will destroy the country’s fragile system of checks and balances and concentrate power in the hands of the leader and his allies.

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid issued a statement wishing Netanyahu a “full recovery and good health.”

“Feel better,” he said on Twitter.