Take peace message from us to Palestine, Israel asks William
PRINCE William has been asked by Israel to deliver a ‘message of peace’ to Palestine when he arrives today.
As part of his historic visit to both countries, he was urged to tell Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas the time had come to solve the ‘tragedy’.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin told William in Jerusalem yesterday: ‘I would like you…to send President Abbas a message of peace. A message of peace that the time has come for us to find a way to build confidence as a first step toward the understanding that we have to end the tragedy between us and those around us for more than 120 years.’
When William meets Mr Abbas in Ramallah today he will become the first royal to officially tour Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Earlier yesterday, the Duke of Cambridge was left ‘profoundly moved’ when he paid his respects to the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis as he visited Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem. Wearing a kippah, or skull cap, the prince laid a wreath. He also met Henry Foner, who was just six when he left Berlin on the Kindertransport to Britain in 1938.
Mr Foner said it was like a ‘fairy story’ to get the chance to thank the prince for Britain’s help. The trip comes at a time of renewed tension in the area, and follows the decision by Donald Trump to move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The prince was cautious in his reply to President Rivlin, saying he looked forward to ‘absorbing and understanding the different issues, the different cultures, the different religions’.
Later, he emphasised his point, saying: ‘Never has hope and reconciliation been more needed. The United Kingdom stands with you, as we work together for a peaceful and prosperous future.’
The sombre note of the day was somewhat lightened when William exchanged football chat with Mr Rivlin – a lifelong Liverpool fan who said he hoped England would get to the World Cup final.
And when the prince met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, they chatted amiably about corgis and football. On a visit to a beach in Tel Aviv, William was also greeted by a gaggle of bikini-clad women – and waved sheepishly as excited locals jostled for position.
Last night there were suggestions William had been ‘used’ by Israel. Tory MP Ian LiddellGrainger said Mr Rivlin had put the royal in a difficult position and should have raised matters privately. But Paul Charney, of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Ireland, said it should be ‘commended, supported and cheered’ that Israel should ask the prince to carry an ‘olive branch’ to the next stop on his itinerary.