William on historic visit to region
BRITISH ROYAL ARRIVES IN ISRAEL AFTER HOLDING TALKS WITH JORDAN CROWN PRINCE
Prince is first member of British royal family to make official visit to Israel and Palestine |
Britain’s Prince William arrived in Israel yesterday, the first member of the royal family to make an official visit to the country and the Palestinian territories.
Prince William’s plane from Jordan landed at Ben Gurion Airport between Tel Aviv and occupied Jerusalem around 6:00pm, with the royal descending on to the tarmac in a dark suit.
Officials stressed the visit of the future king was non-political and focused on building relations with young people.
Yet he is likely to rub up against the complicated realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly when he visits occupied Jerusalem.
William, second in line to the British throne, arrived without his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, who gave birth to their third child two months ago.
William will stay in occupied Jerusalem at the King David Hotel, former headquarters of the British administration during the mandate in Palestine before the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
Today, he is to lay a wreath at the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem, before meeting separately with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.
Meeting with Abbas
Tomorrow he is scheduled to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, before meeting Palestinian refugees and young people.
On Thursday, he is to complete his stay by visiting historical and religious sites in occupied Jerusalem.
“We know this is not a time when we can celebrate progress in the Middle East peace progress, but we believe that engagement is just as important in challenging times as it is in good times,” Philip Hall, Britain’s consul general in occupied Jerusalem, told journalists yesterday.
“We know some of the politics are difficult, but this is not a political visit.”
While in occupied Jerusalem, William will also visit the grave of his great grandmother Princess Alice, who is buried in Jerusalem. She was honoured by Israel for sheltering Jews during World War II.
Occupied territories
Some right-wing Israeli politicians have criticised the fact William’s visit to occupied East Jerusalem is being organised by the British consulate, which deals with the Palestinians.
Hall said they were following “decades” of rulings in the United Nations that declare East Jerusalem, including the Old City, part of the occupied Palestinian territories.
“There is no change in the position.”
Official visits by British royals are organised at the request of the UK government.
Other members of William’s family — including his father Prince Charles — have made unofficial visits to Israel and east Jerusalem in the past.
On Sunday, Prince William praised “historic ties and friendship” with Jordan and the kingdom’s commitment to Syrian and Palestinian refugees, as he began a historic five-day tour that also includes Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Though billed as non-political, it’s a high-profile visit for William, 36, second in line to the throne.
In Jordan, the prince was hosted by Crown Prince Hussain, 23, a member of the Hashemite dynasty Britain helped install in then-Transjordan almost a century ago.
After William’s arrival on Sunday afternoon, the two princes visited a technology lab for digital manufacturing, supported by the Crown Prince Foundation. Students from the Hussain Technical University presented some of their projects, including a multi-axis robotic arm and a paint robot.
William was given a wooden shield decorated with the crest of Aston Villa.
Waves of refugees
At a reception later Sunday marking the birthday of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, he praised Jordan’s resilience as it absorbed waves of refugees over the decades.
“The way in which you opened your doors to hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria, not to mention your long-standing commitments to Palestinian refugees, is remarkable,” he said. “The interchange between our two countries is real and it’s deep.”
“Work, study, tourism and family links. Our historic ties and friendship are played out in the lives of thousands of people who consider both countries home.”
In two days in the kingdom, the prince visited a vocational training college with links to Britain’s Middlesex University, met Syrian refugee children and toured the Roman ruins of the Jerash archaeological site.