Du Wei, the Chinese ambassador to Israel was found dead at his residence in the capital Tel Aviv, on Sunday. He was appointed as the ambassador to Israel in February, this year. Previously, he served as China's envoy to Ukraine since June 2016.
On Sunday, ambassador Du Wei was found dead at his residence, in the capital Tel Aviv's Herzliya suburb. He was found dead in his bed and appears to have died in his sleep, Haaretz reported. Police have launched an investigation into his death. Wei, 58, is survived by his wife and son, both of whom were not in the country, during his demise.
After arriving in Israel, in mid-February, he entered a 14-day quarantine, due to the outbreak of novel coronavirus. He received his diplomatic credentials in late March, but could not meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as is customary, due to the global pandemic.
Du Wei on novel coronavirus outbreak
In an interview with Israel's newspaper Makor Rishon in April, Wei talked extensively on the novel coronavirus outbreak and addressed the barge of criticism China faced, as the initial epicenter of the disease. "China is a law-abiding, responsible country, and should be trusted," he said, adding that during the initial disease outbreak, some countries were "condescending and gloating", but were now looking for a scapegoat.
"Throughout history, certain groups of people have been accused of spreading plagues more than once. It's despicable and should be condemned. The disease is the enemy of the entire mankind, and the world should fight it together," Wei said.
On Friday, the Chinese embassy called out the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for his comments at his recent visit to Israel, in which he claimed that China withheld information during the initial outbreak of novel coronavirus.
The embassy termed the comment as "absurd". Adding further, it said that "scientists still haven't identified the origin of COVID-19" and that China did not withhold any information from the outside world. It further reiterated that the U.S.A. is the new epicenter of Covid-19. Pompeo made the comments on Wednesday, during his visit to the middle-eastern country.
