PRINCE, 1ST UK ROYAL TO VISIT MIDDLE EAST

Jerusalem, June 22: Prince William will next week become the first member of Britain’s royal family ever to pay an official visit to both Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Britain governed the region under a League of Nations mandate for almost three decades until Israel’s independence 70 years ago, and is still blamed by both sides for sowing the seeds of a conflict that continues to wrack the region.

Second in line to the British throne, the 36year- old will arrive on Monday without his wife Kate, who in April gave birth to their third child, Prince Louis.

William’s visit comes at a particularly sensitive time after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as capital of Israel and moved Washington’s embassy there, sparking Arab outrage and deadly clashes on Israel’s border with Gaza.

Dror Zeigerman, a former Israeli ambassador to London, said the Jewish state has long sought a royal visit.

“We asked many times for a visit of Prince Charles or the Queen and we were refused,” he said.

“I assume that it’s not the queen or the prince, it’s the Foreign Office... I don’t know why they changed their mind, maybe it’s time.”