Netanyahu stuck in hospital as contentious vote nears in Israel parliament

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was recovering from an emergency heart procedure on Sunday after being taken to the hospital Saturday night, according to media reports.

As Netanyahu recovers from a procedure to implant a heart pacemaker, the Israeli parliament is preparing to vote on a controversial overhaul of the country’s judicial system. Protests over the reforms have roiled the country recently, with demonstrations now entering their 29th week. According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, some are calling the crisis the most severe in the country’s history.

Netanyahu’s doctors said on Sunday the pacemaker implantation went smoothly and that the prime minister felt fine, according to an Associated Press report.

The vote taking place on Monday in the parliament will curb the Israeli Supreme Court’s ability to stop government policy it finds to be unreasonable.

The crisis reached a boiling point over the weekend ahead of the vote. Both business and labor leaders have held emergency meetings to discuss a possible “economic shutdown” in protest of the vote, according to Haaretz.

The crisis has even endangered Israeli security policy, with military personnel stating they would refuse to serve or would quit over the reform. On Friday, more than 1,000 members of the Israeli Air Force reserve said they would stop reporting for duty if the vote passed, reported the New York Times.