Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's scheduled visit to Taiwan this week has been postponed to an undetermined date due to what foreign ministry officials termed as Netanyahu's "physical indisposition," sources said yesterday.
"He claimed he was physically indisposed so he's unable to come," said a foreign ministry official, who refused to be identified.
Taipei's representative office in Tel Aviv was informed yesterday of Netanyahu's decision, sources said.
A source outside the government, who was involved in organizing Netanyahu's speech said the visit might be postponed until May.
Staff at the Israeli Economic and Cultural Office confirmed that Netanyahu's trip had originally been slated for March 8 to 12.
Netanyahu had originally been scheduled to meet President Chen Shui-bian (
He was also supposed to give a luncheon speech at the Chinatrust building in Taipei addressing the economic implications of Israel's current domestic political situation.
Born in Tel Aviv in 1949, Netanyahu became Israel's Prime Minister with a slim margin of victory of less than 1 percent in 1996.
He was first elected to office in the void left by Yitzhak Rabin's assassination in 1995.
Netanyahu's term ended in 1999 when Labor Party leader Ehud Barak soundly defeated him and his right-wing Likud Party.
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