JERUSALEM, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Israeli government ministers' trip to Germany, scheduled for Monday, has been put off after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fell ill and was advised by his physician not to travel.

    "The prime minister felt ill this evening and was examined by his physician Dr. Tzvi Herman Berkowitz, who diagnosed a viral infection and a mild fever. Berkowitz recommended that the prime minister rest at home," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement issued on Sunday evening.

    "In consultations between the PMO and the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, it was decided to postpone the inter-governmental meeting to January," said the statement sent to Xinhua.

    Netanyahu and his ministers were supposed to travel to Berlin for a joint cabinet session with their German counterparts, a symbol highlighting the two countries' bond decades after the Holocaust.

    Citing an official at the PMO, local news service Ynet reported that Netanyahu had begun feeling unwell in the morning hours, but took part in a Likud minister's meeting and in the weekly cabinet meeting. On Sunday afternoon, despite his condition, Netanyahu delivered a speech at a journalism conference in Eilat, a southern Israeli city.

    While flying back from Eilat, the prime minister complained of pains and was examined upon landing by his personal doctor, who recommended that Netanyahu remain in Israel in order to recover from the illness.

    Netanyahu's advisor Uzi Arad telephoned senior officials in the German Chancellor's office after it was decided that the prime minister and his entourage would not be able to arrive in Berlin as planned, said Ynet, adding that the German officials consulted Merkel and decided not to hold the meeting between the two governments without the Israeli prime minister.