William voices Middle East hopes
Prince William voiced hope for lasting peace in the Middle East yesterday as he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank in the first official British royal visit to the Palestinian Territories.
The prince visited a Palestinian refugee camp and toured a UN-run clinic in the Jalazone camp near Ramallah.
William received a red-carpet welcome to the Muqata, the Palestinian government headquarters in the city of Ramallah, that included an honour guard and band.
“I’m very glad our two countries work so closely together and have had success stories with education and relief work in the past, so, long may that continue,” William told Abbas.
“My sentiments are the same as yours in hoping there is a lasting peace in the region.”
On Tuesday, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin asked the prince to bring Abbas a message of peace – and tell him it was time to find a way to build confidence between Israel and the Palestinians.
In remarks released to the media after his own meeting with William earlier that day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made no such request.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2014 and the divide has widened since US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US Embassy to the city.
“The Palestinian side is committed to the peace process with the Israelis, so both states could live peacefully together within the borders of 1967,” Abbas said about his meeting with William.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel with the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war, as the capital of a state they seek to establish in the territories.
After meeting Abbas, William was scheduled to meet Palestinian youngsters.
Until now it had been British policy not to make an official royal visit to Israel and the occupied territories until the conflict was resolved.
Britain’s consul-general in Jerusalem, Philip Hall, had said before William’s departure to the Middle East: “It’s not a time when he can come and celebrate success in the Middle East peace process or anything, but it is a time when we can show our interest in the region.”
Before crossing into the West Bank, William strolled along a trendy Tel Aviv boulevard with Israeli 2018 Eurovision song contest winner Netta Barzilai to the delight of cheering onlookers.
William’s four-day tour ends today with a visit to holy sites in Israel.