"Tonight, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo a pacemaker implantation operation at the Sheba Center of Tel Hashomer Hospital," Netanyahu’s office said late on Saturday night.
In a video released by his office, the 73 year-old prime minister addressed his health saying he feels "great" but needs to "listen to his doctors".
"A week ago I was fitted with a monitoring device. That device beeped this evening and said I must receive a pacemaker and that I must do this already tonight," Netanyahu said in an address. "I feel great, but I need to listen to my doctors."
He added that his doctors assured him he would be discharged from the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan "tomorrow afternoon."
The announcement comes a week after Netanyahu was hospitalized for dehydration, according to an Israeli outlet. During his hospitalization he had a heart monitoring device implanted. Earlier in the evening the device made an alert, which signals that a pacemaker should be implanted immediately.
However, the Knesset is expected to begin debating the coalition's controversial judicial reform bill tomorrow morning, and will have a second and third reading on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
While Netanyahu is in surgery, Justice Minister Yariv Levin will serve as acting prime minister; a nomination which was decided by ministers over the phone.
Netanyahu's weekly cabinet meeting, which is scheduled for the morning, will be postponed. And his meeting to discuss security issues with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Herzi Haalevi will also be pushed back: the meeting is reported to be a discussion about the 10,000 IDF reservists who have gone on strike to protest the controversial judicial reform bill.