Prince William arrives in Israel
First official visit from member of British royalty
JERUSALEM — Prince William arrived in Israel on Monday for the first official visit of a member of the British royal family to the tumultuous region London once ruled.
Arriving from neighboring Jordan, the Duke of Cambridge landed at Israel’s Ben-gurion International Airport and then departed to Jerusalem, where he will stay at the elegant King David Hotel, site of the former administrative headquarters of the British mandate.
Three decades of British rule between the two world wars helped establish some of the fault lines of today’s Israeli-palestinian conflict, and Britain’s withdrawal in 1948 led to the eventual establishment of Israel and Jordan.
Britain has since taken a back seat to the U.S. in mediating peace efforts, and the royal family has mostly steered clear of the region’s toxic politics.
For the 36-year-old William, second in line to the throne, it marks a high-profile visit that could burnish his international credentials.
Though the trip is being billed as nonpolitical, and places a special emphasis on technology and joint Israeli-arab projects, William will also be meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and visiting landmark Jerusalem sites at the heart of the century-old conflict.
On Tuesday he will visit Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, where he will meet two survivors who escaped Nazi Germany for the safety of Britain. The memorial has recognized Prince William’s great-grandmother, Princess Alice, as Righteous Among the Nations for her role in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust.