Miri Regev, a Likud Member of Knesset and the current Minister of Culture and Sport, became Prime Minister of Israel on Friday…for half-an-hour.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had two small polyps removed from his digestive system on Friday and had to be partially anesthetized.
Netanyahu celebrated his 68th birthday last week, and the hospital made a statement on Friday afternoon that “the prime minister is in excellent health” and that he had “fully resumed his duties.”
Netanyahu has never appointed a deputy prime minister or designated a replacement who would automatically take over leadership of the country if he were unexpectedly unable to perform his duties or if he was removed from office. Whenever he leaves the country or is unable to fulfill his role temporarily, Prime Minister Netanyahu names stand-ins from his party. Regev filled in for the Prime Minister last June when he went to Greece, but the post has also been filled at various times by Likud ministers Yisrael Katz, Gilad Erdan, Ze’ev Elkin, Yariv Levin and Yuval Steinitz.
