Netanyahu Reveals he had Treatment for Prostate Cancer; Doctor says Tumor was Found ‘a Few Months Ago,’ PM had Radiation Therapy 2.5 Months Ago, and the Disease is Gone
By Times of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reveals he underwent treatment for prostate cancer that was discovered during a routine checkup sometime after he underwent surgery for benign prostate enlargement in December 2024.
The premier includes the information in a lengthy statement on social media that accompanies the release of his annual health assessment.
Prof. Aron Popovtzer, Director of the Sharett Oncology Institute at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Center, where the prime minister underwent the treatment, gives more specifics:
The tumor was discovered “a few months ago,” Netanyahu was given radiation therapy “two and a half months ago,” and checks “after two and a half months” — apparently recently, according to the doctor’s timeline — showed the “disease has disappeared,” Popovtzer says in a video statement. He notes that Netanyahu continues to undergo routine checkups.
Besides the tumor — which Netanyahu says was successfully treated — the assessment finds the 76-year-old premier to be in good health, with all blood tests and physical fitness tests coming back normal.
The assessment also notes that Netanyahu’s heart is in good health and there have been no issues since he had a pacemaker implanted in July 2023.
Netanyahu, on social media, says he delayed the release of his medical report by two months as he wanted to prevent “the terrorist regime in Iran from spreading more false propaganda against Israel.” At the height of the fighting in March, rumors circulated online that Netanyahu had been injured or killed.
“I would like to share three things with you,” Netanyahu writes on X.
“1 — Thank God, I am healthy.
“2 — I am in excellent physical shape.
“3 — I had a small medical problem with my prostate that was completely treated.”
At a routine check-up following his prostate surgery in December 2024, Netanyahu says doctors found a “tiny spot of less than a centimeter” in his prostate that turned out to be “a very early stage of malignant tumor, without any spread of metastasis.
He says that his doctors offered him the choice of undergoing treatment or to initially keep monitoring the tumor without pursuing treatment, and that he decided on the former.
“When I am informed in a timely manner about a possible danger, I want to treat it immediately,” he writes. “This is true on a national level as well as a personal level.”
He says he “underwent targeted treatment that removed the problem and left no trace of it.”
He adds: “Thank God, I beat this, too.”
He thanks “the doctors and the wonderful medical teams at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem” and urges all Israeli citizens: “Take care of your health. Get checked, and follow the doctors’ instructions.”
He ends with a Shabbat eve prayer “for the peace of our wounded in body and soul,” and sends them a “warm embrace” and wishes for their speedy recovery.
