Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 76, publicly revealed for the first time that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December 2024 and subsequently underwent surgery and treatment. In a lengthy social media post coinciding with his annual medical evaluation, Netanyahu said doctors initially believed the tumour was benign but later determined that surgical intervention was necessary. He described the procedure as successful and declared his health to be “very good.”
The disclosure comes at a sensitive time for Israel. In a separate but symbolically charged incident, Alex Sinclair, a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, reported being detained by police for wearing a kippah embroidered with both the Israeli and Palestinian flags — a skullcap he says he has worn for 20 years as an expression of his “messy ambivalence” about Jewish-Zionist identity. Officers reportedly cut the Palestinian flag symbol from the head covering before returning it to him. The episode has drawn attention to the narrowing space for dissent within Israel.
