Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leaves hospital diagnosed with minor respiratory infection

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was discharged from the hospital shortly after midnight on Wednesday, after undergoing medical tests.

A statement released by the prime minister’s office said the reason for Netanyahu’s short-term hospitalization was “high fever and cough” and that tests show he suffers from a “minor viral infections of his upper respiratory tract.” The doctors, the statement continues, “recommended rest and medication.”

The hospitalization followed the Israeli leader's coming down with a throat infection in mid-March after returning from a trip to Washington, D.C. He kept his usual schedule despite the infection, and Netanyahu's personal physician, Dr. Zvi Herman Berkowitz, said he suspected the prime minister had not gotten the rest needed for a full recovery which worsened the symptoms.

Netanyahu tweeted a thank you to well-wishers: “Thank you all for your concern. I am on my way home, certain that some rest and hot soup will set things right," he posted in Hebrew.

Netanyahu continued to perform his official duties while in the hospital but a scheduled security cabinet meeting on Wednesday is to be chaired by the country's defense minister while the prime minister rests.

On Monday, Netanyahu was questioned for more than four hours by the Israeli police at his residence in Jerusalem as part of an investigation of a corruption case in which he is a suspect. His wife, Sara, and son, Yair, were questioned at a different location as part of the same investigation.