Benjamin Netanyahu reveals secret prostate cancer diagnosis but says he has now received
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed a secret prostate cancer diagnosis, assuring the public that he has since received a clean bill of health.
The 76-year-old first underwent surgery on December 29, 2024, to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia, according to a medical report released by his office on Friday.
The procedure at Hadassah Medical Centre was described as successful and complication-free.
But a routine follow-up MRI then identified a minuscule suspicious lesion measuring less than one millimetre in the prostate.
Subsequent diagnostic tests confirmed the presence of early-stage prostate cancer, with no evidence of metastases.
The cancer was treated and Netanyahu says he is now healthy and in ‘excellent physical condition’.
Writing on X, the Israeli leader said he requested to delay the April 20 report’s publication by two months, ‘so that it would not be released at the height of the war, in order not to allow the Iranian terror regime to spread even more false propaganda against Israel‘.
‘I ask to share with you three things,’ he wrote on social media: ‘1 – Thank God, I am healthy. 2 – I am in excellent physical condition. 3 – I had a minor medical issue with my prostate that was completely treated. Thank God, it’s behind me.’
Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed a secret prostrate cancer diagnosis, assuring the public that he has since received a clean bill of health
‘A year and a half ago, I underwent successful surgery for an enlarged benign prostate, and since then I have been under routine medical monitoring,’ he wrote.
‘In the last monitoring, a tiny spot of less than a centimetre was discovered in the prostate. Upon examination, it turned out to be a very early stage of a malignant tumour, with no spread or metastases whatsoever.’
The doctors told him it was very common among men his age, and that there were two options: leave it untreated but with frequent monitoring, or undergo treatment and remove the problem.
‘You already know me. When I’m given information in time about a potential danger, I want to address it immediately,’ Netanyahu wrote.
‘This is true on the national level and also on the personal level. That’s what I did. I underwent targeted treatment that removed the problem and left no trace of it. I went to a few short treatments, read a book, and continued working.
‘The spot disappeared completely. Thank God, I overcame this too. I wish to thank the doctors and the wonderful medical teams at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem,’ he said.
The revelation comes as the Israeli leader is due to visit the White House in the coming weeks as the US seeks to broker a long-lasting deal in the war with Tehran.
Israel’s ceasefire with Lebanon, following fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah, has also been extended by three weeks, following talks between the countries’ envoys in Washington, DC.
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