Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will undergo surgery for a hernia tonight after the meeting of the war cabinet.

The hernia was discovered last night during a routine check up.

Netanyahu will have a general anaesthetic during the operation.
Israel’s justice minister Yariv Levin will take charge while Netanyahu is indisposed.

A hernia is a bulging of internal organs or tissues through the wall that contains it. It can be of two different types: herniorrhaphy; or hernioplasty. Repairing a hernia is a routine operation with very few risks. But a small number of hernias can come back at some point after surgery. Other potential complications  include blood or fluid building up in the space left by the hernia (this usually gets better without treatment). Patients are usually off work for one to two weeks.