China’s Ambassador to Israel, Du Wei was found dead inside his official residence in Herzliya, located in the northern part of Tel Aviv, on Sunday morning, according to Israeli officials.
The Chinese government in preliminary findings attributed his death to unspecified health problems, and Israeli police said it had opened an investigation, the NYT reported.
Wei only assumed his current role in Israel in February 2020, and according to the Chinese Embassy’s website, he has served in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for more than 30 years, with his previous post being in China’s Embassy in Ukraine.
Israeli daily Haaretz reported that Yuval Rotem, Israel’s Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said he spoken with China’s deputy ambassador to express his condolences and pledged to “help the Chinese Embassy with anything they may need along the way.”
It also reported that China will send a special team to investigate the death of its ambassador to Israel on Monday.