x
Breaking News
More () »

Prince William's trip to Israel, West Bank is history in the making

It will be the first official royal visit to Israel and what the British government calls the "Occupied Palestinian Territories" since 1948.
Credit: Jack Taylor/Getty Images
Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, leaves the Lindo Wing of St Mary's Hospital after Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a baby boy on April 23, 2018 in London, England.

Having just wound up a historic royal wedding, Britain is sending future king Prince William on a historic trip to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories next month, Kensington Palace said Thursday, laying out some details of the much-anticipated visit.

The Duke of Cambridge, the second in line to the throne, will visit Amman and Jerash in Jordan, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in Israel, and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, between June 24 and 28, a palace statement said. It's likely security will be heavy over the five days of the visit.

It will be the first official royal visit to Israel and what the British government calls the "Occupied Palestinian Territories" since 1948, when Britain's 25-year control of the region (known as the British Mandate) ended on the eve of Israel's independence.

The visit, which the palace first announced by tweet in March, comes as Israel is celebrating its 70th anniversary year of independence, and after years of pleading in vain for British governments to send a high-ranking royal to help bolster its standing in the world.

Israelis have long considered it a snub that so far Britain and the royals have refused, especially when they have paid official visits to Israel's Arab neighbors, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

William's father and grandfather, Prince Charles and Prince Philip, have each visited Israel but they were considered "private" visits.

Charles attended the funerals in Jerusalem of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and former prime minister and president Shimon Peres in 2016. Philip went to Israel in 1994 when his mother, who was buried in Jerusalem in 1988, was honored at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial, for her efforts to save a Greek Jewish family during World War II.

But decisions about where royals go on official visits are made by the government of the day, not by Her Majesty. In 2015, the Telegraph reported that until there is a settlement between Israel and the Palestinians it was unlikely any royals would be turning up in Jerusalem.

That has now changed. William is making the visit at the request of the British government and has been welcomed by the Jordanian, Israeli, and Palestinian authorities.

"This is an historic visit, the first of its kind, and he will be welcomed here with great affection," tweeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March.

"A very special guest, and a very special present for our 70th year of independence," tweeted Israel's president, Reuven Rivlin.

Palestinian leaders also issued welcoming statements.

“Prince William, who accepted an invitation from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, will be a welcome guest, not just of the leadership but of the Palestinian people who will provide him with the opportunity to share their stories first-hand and connect on a human level,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

BICOM, the Britain Israel Communications and Research Center, a Middle East think tank, suggested in a tweet that William is likely to meet with Netanyahu, Rivlin and Abbas, and pay visits to Yad Vashem, the Mount of Olives and holy sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

But the announcement of the trip inevitably set off a deluge — from Israel, the U.S. and Britain — of approving and disapproving comments on Twitter, particularly after May 14, when Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian demonstrators at the Israeli-Gaza border, killing 60 people.

The palace said the prince's visit would not be postponed.

William, who will turn 36 just days before the trip, will be going without his wife, Duchess Kate of Cambridge, who just had their third baby and is not yet back to full royal duties.

William has already undertaken multiple trips abroad on behalf of the government and his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II (who at 92 no longer undertakes long-haul trips), including to sensitive countries such as China, India and Malaysia.

But this visit could be trickier than most. As The New York Times put it: "Old grievances and present-day realities mean that traveling between Israel and the Palestinian territories will likely require all the royal finesse William can muster."

Prince William was best man when his younger brother, Prince Harry, married the American actress Meghan Markle at Windsor Castle on Saturday in a spectacular royal wedding watched around the world.

William recently became a father for the third time: His second son, Prince Louis, was born on April 23.

Before You Leave, Check This Out