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Britain’s Prince William visits Israel Holocaust memorial
JERUSALEM, June 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Prince William honoured Holocaust
victims and met Israeli leaders Tuesday as he began the first official visit
by a British royal to both Israel and the Palestinian territories, at a time
of heightened tensions.
The second in line to the British throne, wearing a black skullcap,
rekindled the eternal flame and laid a wreath at Israel’s Holocaust memorial
Yad Vashem as a youth choir sang.
The 36-year-old prince also toured the museum at the site perched on a
forested hillside in west Jerusalem as part of a Middle East tour that first
took him to Jordan.
His visit comes at a particularly sensitive time after US President Donald
Trump recognised Jerusalem as capital of Israel, outraging Palestinians and
sparking deadly clashes on the border with Gaza.
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 the ongoing conflict.
William met with two Holocaust survivors, Paul Alexander and Henry Foner,
who as children had escaped from Nazi Germany to Britain as part of the
“Kindertransport” programme.
While in Jerusalem, William will also visit the grave of his great
grandmother, Princess Alice, who was honoured by Yad Vashem in 1993 for
sheltering Jews in Greece from the Nazis during World War II.
Prince William later headed for talks with Israeli leaders. He met Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara and was also due to see
President Reuven Rivlin.
Officials stressed the visit of the future king was non-political and
focused on building relations with young people.
Yet he is likely to rub up against the complicated realities of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly while visiting the disputed holy
city of Jerusalem.
– ‘Not a political visit’ –
William arrived in Israel from Jordan on Monday evening without his wife
Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, who gave birth to their third child two
months ago.
MORE/SSS/1632 hrs
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He overnighted in Jerusalem at the King David Hotel, former headquarters
of the British administration during the mandate in Palestine before the
creation of the State of Israel in 1948.
On Wednesday he is scheduled to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in
the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, before meeting Palestinian refugees
and young people.
On Thursday, he is to complete his stay by visiting historical and
religious sites in Jerusalem.
“We know this is not a time when we can celebrate progress in the Middle
East peace progress, but we believe that engagement is just as important in
challenging times as it is in good times,” Philip Hall, Britain’s consul
general in Jerusalem, told journalists on Monday.
“We know some of the politics are difficult, but this is not a political
visit.”
Israel defines Jerusalem as its “eternal and indivisible” capital, while
the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.
Trump’s decision in December to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital
sparked Arab outrage, and the May inauguration of the US embassy in the city
coincided with bloody border protests in the Gaza Strip.
Some right-wing Israeli politicians have criticised the fact William’s
visit to east Jerusalem is being organised by the British consulate, which
deals with the Palestinians.
Hall said they were following “decades” of rulings in the United Nations
that declare east Jerusalem, including the Old City, part of the occupied
Palestinian territories.
“There is no change in the position.”
Israel seized the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967
Six-Day War.
Official visits by British royals are organised at the request of the UK
government.
Other members of William’s family — including his father Prince Charles –
– have made unofficial visits to Israel and east Jerusalem in the past.
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