Prince William begins politically perilous visit
AMMAN, Jordan — Britain’s Prince William kicked off a politically delicate five-day tour of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories Sunday, preparing to meet with young people, refugees and national leaders in a tumultuous region that Britain had controlled between the two world wars.
Though billed as nonpolitical, it’s a high-profile foreign visit for the 36year-old William, second in line to the British throne.
On Sunday, he was welcomed in Jordan by 23-year-old Crown Prince Hussein, a member of the Hashemite dynasty Britain helped install in thenTransjordan almost a century ago. William was greeted by an honor guard after his plane landed on the outskirts of the capital of Amman.
In two days in the kingdom, he will visit a technology outreach group for young Jordanians, tour a vocational college with links to Britain’s Middlesex University and meet Syrian refugee children.
On Monday evening, the prince leaves for Jerusalem for the first official visit by a member of the royal family to Israel and the Palestinian territories. He’ll meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah at a time of widening rifts between the two sides.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict typically looms large, even during largely ceremonious visits, and William will have to maneuver carefully to avoid missteps.
Hanan Ashrawi, a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said she welcomes William’s visit to the West Bank as a chance to see Palestinian reality under Israeli occupation first hand. “This visit is the first of its kind and represents an opportunity to enhance relations between Prince William and the Palestinian people on all the levels,” she said.
William’s wife, Kate, spent two years in Jordan as a toddler when her father moved the family there during a work assignment.