Prince off to Israel, Palestine
FIRST BRITISH ROYAL TO VISIT BOTH REGIONS His schedule calls east Jerusalem ‘the Occupied Palestinian Territories’.
Prince William was scheduled to fly to Jordan yesterday on a trip that will see him become the first member of Britain’s royal family to pay an official visit to both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The 36-year-old Duke of Cambridge touches down in Amman for a first leg billed as a chance to bond with Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, 23, a fellow graduate of Britain’s Royal Sandhurst Military Academy.
The second in line to the British throne will then head to Israel tonight to begin his history-making visit to the Jewish state and occupied West Bank.
He will hold talks with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
Kensington Palace has underlined the “nonpolitical nature of His Royal Highness’s role – in common with all royal visits overseas”.
But the region is a minefield of sensitivities.
The visit comes at a particularly volatile time after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as capital of Israel and moved Washington’s embassy there, sparking Arab outrage and deadly clashes.
Britain governed the region under a League of Nations mandate for almost three decades until Israel’s independence 70 years ago. It is still blamed by both sides for sowing the seeds of a conflict that continues to wrack the region.
Ahead of William’s arrival, the official schedule’s reference to east Jerusalem as “in the Occupied Palestinian Territories” sparked particular anger among some right-wing Israeli politicians.
Official visits by British royals take place at the request of the UK government, but statements from the prince’s household have given little explanation for the timing of this trip.
Israel has long pushed for an official visit by a member of the British monarchy.
Other members of William’s family, including his father Prince Charles, have made unofficial visits to Israel and east Jerusalem in the past.
A packed schedule will also see William meet with young people, British servicemen and Syrian refugees while in Jordan.
In Israel, he will lay a wreath at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.
He will visit the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and pay tribute at the tomb of his great-grandmother Princess Alice of Greece, who was honoured by Israel for sheltering Jews during World War II.
In the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah he is also down to meet Palestinian refugees and youths. – AFP