JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a joint Cabinet meeting in Berlin after being diagnosed with a viral infection.
Monday’s trip by Netanyahu and six other Cabinet ministers was canceled several hours before their scheduled flight to Germany.
The prime minister felt ill Sunday evening and was examined by his physician, who diagnosed a viral infection and a mild fever and recommended that he rest at home, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.
The intergovernmental meeting, a reciprocal visit to one made by the German Cabinet in March 2008, was postponed until January.
The cancellation came several hours after Netanyahu delivered a speech in Eilat to mark the Nov. 29 anniversary of the U.N. vote to create the State of Israel.
Germany is negotiating in conjunction with Egypt to secure the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
