Foreign expert: Why No Royal Visit to Israel?
Prince Charles was set to visit Israel to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain gave its support to a Jewish homeland — but the trip has now been canceled, notes Elliott Abrams at Newsweek. This first state visit ever by a British royal would have honored soldiers killed during the World War I Palestine campaign. But thanks to Britain’s Foreign Office, “an official visit — to see and honor the country — appears to be beyond the pale.” Reports cited fears of antagonizing Arab states, but with Israeli-Gulf state relations improving, “it is plain silly to believe that they would be horribly ‘upset’ if Charles visited Israel.” So the decision “reflects plain ignorance — or something far worse.”