Ben Eliezer heads home after month-long hospitalization

Labor MK says he'll return to politics "little by little"; "dreamed of Labor Party being rebuilt, getting its strength back" while ill.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN , JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
ben eliezer 311 (photo credit: Eli Neeman)
ben eliezer 311
(photo credit: Eli Neeman)
Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer on Sunday was headed home after being hospitalized for over a month with pneumonia.
Ben-Eliezer, speaking at a press conference at the hospital, said that he would be coming back to political life "little by little." He said that what is happening in the country is important to him.
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MK Ben-Eliezer was discharged from Assaf Hafofeh Medical in Tzrifin after nearly six weeks of treatment, during which he suffered from serious pneumonia and had to be put under anesthesia with a respirator to allow treatment of his lung condition. He regained consciousness and was able to breathe on his own after a week of care by Prof. Zvi Vered and his team and improved, allowing his discharge.
He noted that at one point during his hospitalization, that "they thought I wouldn't last through the night."
Speaking about the tough times when he was fighting for his health, Ben-Eliezer "dreamed of the Labor Party being rebuilt and getting its strength back."
He added that he is still "proud to be a Labor man."
Asked whether the split in Labor that resulted in him losing his cabinet seat had a negative effect on his health, he answered: "Come on, I'm stronger than that. I've been in Labor since 1984. All those fights between [former prime minister Yitzhak] Rabin and [President Shimon] Peres, so such things don't move me any more."