Following is the statement by Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director General of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.:

“Shabbat shalom.  The Prime Minister has been at Hadassah Hospital for 39 days, during which time, as we all know, since he suffered a stroke, he is in a coma, an ongoing stroke, including at this time.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s doctors observed swelling in his abdomen, and since, of course, we cannot ask the Prime Minister how he is feeling and if he is in pain, the only way to make the diagnosis was to take him for an additional CT scan, this time of his abdomen and not his head.  The CT scan showed damage to his intestine.  Therefore, after consultations with the Prime Minister’s family and his two sons, it was decided that the appropriate treatment was to take the Prime Minister down to the operating room to decide further treatment.

In the operating room, a preliminary examination through the periscope was carried out, and in light of the findings, it was decided to operate on the Prime Minister.  At that stage, the Prime Minister’s condition was imminently life threatening because of the damage to his intestine, and in fact, when the abdomen was opened up, it was discovered that the large intestine was damaged and necrotic.  Therefore, an operation was carried out in which a section of the large intestine was removed, the right side of the large intestine, which is the area also attached to the small intestine.  In total, 50 centimeters of the large intestine was removed, which is approximately 1/3 of the large intestine, and a small part of the large intestine at the place where they connect.

The surgery was without complications, and there was no change in the Prime Minister’s vital signs in terms of blood pressure, pulse and the other signs we examine in this situation.  Following the surgery, the Prime Minister was transferred to the general intensive care unit, since, in the next few days, the primary concern is definitely that of the intestines and abdomen.  We did not find it appropriate to return him to the neurosurgical intensive care unit, rather to the general intensive care unit, where he will be treated.

It is important to point out that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s main problem remains his unconscious state, not the problem with his abdomen.  The problem discovered last night and during the day is in addition to the central problem, which is the unconsciousness, a state which, in the last week or ten days, has not shown any significant change.

As to his present condition, it is serious, it is stable, it is critical, but there is no immediate threat to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s life.  Of course, at the same time, we are following up on all the parameters associated with the Prime Minister’s state of consciousness with hope, with prayer, with treatment, so that the Prime Minister will wake up, but there is no doubt that the surgery he underwent today, and the changes caused as a result of the surgery do not add to the Prime Minister’s health."