Netanyahu reveals prostate cancer treatment, says he hid diagnosis during Iran war

JTA – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Friday that he had recently undergone treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, adding that he kept the diagnosis private amid the war with Iran. 

“I requested to delay its 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,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X. 

The Israeli leader said the treatment “removed the problem and left no trace of it” and he was now in “excellent physical condition”. 

The Director of the Sharett Oncology Institute at Hadassah Medical Center, Aron Popovtzer, said in a video statement that a routine medical examination following Netanyahu’s December 2024 prostate removal surgery had uncovered a 0.35 inch (0.89cm), early-stage adenocarcinoma. Popovtzer said Netanyahu had undergone radiation treatment “two and a half months ago”, ahead of the joint United States-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, and that he had recently undergone a medical test that found the cancer had “disappeared”. 

Netanyahu, 76, added that the tumour was “very common among men my age” and that, upon examination, “it turned out to be a very early stage of a malignant tumour, with no spread or metastases whatsoever”. 

The announcement of the Israeli leader’s diagnosis, which follows online rumours falsely speculating that he had died in March, comes as Israel approaches an election cycle expected in the next six months. Netanyahu’s approval ratings have remained volatile amid the Iran war, with Hebrew University reporting earlier this month that 10% of Israelis viewed the war as successful, while support for Netanyahu was at 34%. 

Netanyahu signalled in his post that his health revelation should not cause anyone to doubt his ability to lead. 

“You already know me,” Netanyahu wrote. “When I’m given information in time about a potential danger, I want to address it immediately. This is true on the national level and also on the personal level. That’s what I did.”