Netanyahu reveals he was treated for prostate cancer before Iran war

Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed he underwent treatment for early-stage prostate cancer.

The Israeli prime minister, 76, announced on Friday that he had been treated for a malignant tumour following surgery on an enlarged prostate at the end of 2024.

He said that he had asked to delay the publication of his annual medication report, released today, to avoid it being shared at the height of the Iran conflict.

Netanyahu insisted he is now “healthy” and “in excellent condition”, after electing to have targeted treatment.

“A year and a half ago, I underwent successful surgery for an enlarged benign prostate, and since then I have been under routine medical monitoring,” he said.

“In the last monitoring, a tiny spot of less than a centimetre was discovered in the prostate. Upon examination, it turned out to be a very early stage of a malignant tumour, with no spread or metastases whatsoever.”

He said he elected to undergo treatment at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem that “removed the problem and left no trace of it”.

He said he had been advised he could undergo treatment to “remove the problem” or live with it.

“You already know me. When I’m given information in time about a potential danger, I want to address it immediately,” he said.

“This is true on the national level and also on the personal level. That’s what I did.”

Netanyahu said he had sought to delay the publication of his health report by two months “in order not to allow the Iranian terror regime to spread even more false propaganda against Israel”.