Netanyahu Fitted With Heart Pacemaker as Israel’s Turmoil Intensifies

Demonstrations against the overhaul entered their 29th straight week on Saturday night, as tens of thousands marched into Jerusalem from the mountains outside the city, blocking parts of a major highway with a sea of blue-and-white Israeli flags. Some had been trekking for five days after setting out from Tel Aviv, some 40 miles away, on Tuesday night.

Protesters also set up a tent city in a park below the Parliament building in Jerusalem.

A group of business leaders representing about 150 large companies announced late Sunday that their businesses would remain shuttered on Monday morning. They called on other companies to join what they described in a statement as “an emergency measure taken as a last resort to bring the unilateral legislation to a halt and to enter into dialogue.”

After a late-night emergency meeting, the country’s main labor union said it was considering a general strike, in rare coordination with Israel’s largest alliance of business leaders. And a group representing 10,000 military reservists said its members would resign from military duty if the overhaul went ahead without social consensus — adding their names to a smaller group of 1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists who made a similar threat on Friday.

The reservists’ warnings have led to concerns within the defense establishment about Israel’s military readiness. The Israel Defense Forces, or I.D.F., are heavily reliant on reservists, particularly the air force.

Citing these fears, a group of 15 retired army chiefs, former police commissioners and former directors of the foreign and domestic intelligence agencies wrote a public letter to Mr. Netanyahu on Saturday night, calling him “the person directly responsible for the serious damage to the I.D.F. and Israel’s security.”

Hours later, the prime minister began experiencing the irregularity in his heartbeat.

The data from the device was “an indication for urgent pacemaker implantation,” according to Prof. Roy Beinart, the director of Sheba’s department of rhythm disturbances and pacing.

Gabby Sobelman contributed reporting from Rehovot, Israel, and Roni Rabin from Tel Aviv.