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Prince William honours Holocaust victims during Jerusalem trip Prince William asked to deliver ‘message of peace’ to Palestinian leader
(about 2 hours later)
The Duke of Cambridge has paid tribute in Jerusalem to the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust in an emotional ceremony during his historic visit to Israel. Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, has sought to recruit the Duke of Cambridge as a peace envoy before the prince’s meeting with the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas.
Prince William laid a wreath at the Holocaust remembrance centre Yad Vashem and was shown around the museum’s Hall of Names, a virtual cemetery where names and details of millions of victims are recorded. At a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Rivlin asked Prince William to deliver to Abbas “a message of peace”, telling him that together they had to build confidence and understanding to bring to an end “the tragedy between us that goes along for more than 120 years”.
At one point the prince viewed an exhibit of shoes taken from Jews by the Nazis at a death camp, and the remains of a cattle-car used to transport victims to the camps. The prince, the first senior royal to pay an official visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, responded that he was “hoping that peace in the area can be achieved”. Talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed in 2014.
“It’s terrifying. I’m trying to comprehend the scale,” said William, who wore a black Jewish skullcap that was a gift from the British chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, who accompanied him. The exchange took place on the first full day of engagements in Jerusalem on a visit diplomats have stressed is non-political.
The prince is the first senior member of the royal family to pay an official visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. William met Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife Sara, who last week was charged with fraud and breach of trust for allegedly using public funds to pay for restaurant meals to be delivered to the couple’s official residence.
Sharing the moment were Holocaust survivors, including two, Henry Foner, 86, and Paul Alexander, 80, who were among the thousands of Jewish children taken to Britain in safety on the Kindertransport. “Welcome to Israel, a great historic visit. The whole people of Israel are excited,” Netanyahu told the prince.
“When I put my foot on English soil for the first time, it was like I had been reborn, because I left Nazi Germany and was received by the British people and I have an enormous debt of thanks to the British people,” Alexander, originally from Leipzig, told Reuters. Earlier, William paid tribute to the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, standing with his head bowed before an eternal flame that flickers in their memory at the Holocaust museum Yad Vashem.
Foner, whose original name was Heinz Lichtwitz, arrived in Swansea from Berlin in 1939. His father, Max, regularly sent postcards to him in Wales. A final missive read: “Our destiny is very uncertain.” He was murdered at Auschwitz months later. He placed a wreath on a concrete slab containing the ashes of Holocaust victims, and was shown around the museum’s Hall of Names, a virtual cemetery where names and details of millions of victims are recorded on pages of testimony.
Foner, who took the name of the family who adopted him, gave William a book he wrote in honour of his father. “It’s a great honour for me to be able to say thank you, symbolically, to the British people who saved my life.” William viewed an exhibit of shoes taken from Jews by the Nazis at a death camp, and the remains of a cattle truck used to transport victims to the camps. “It’s terrifying. I’m trying to comprehend the scale,” he said, wearing a black Jewish skullcap, a gift from Britain’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis.
There was a personal connection for the prince as well. His great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece – the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh – is recognised by the memorial for her role in rescuing Jews during the Holocaust by hiding three members of a family called Cohen in her palace in Athens during the Nazi occupation of Greece. It was a moment for sombre contemplation for the second in line to the British throne, shared with Holocaust survivors including Henry Foner, 86, and Paul Alexander, 80, who were among thousands of Jewish children who reached Britain and safety on the “Kindertransport”.
William was later welcomed by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife, Sara, at their official residence in Jerusalem. The prince was also due to see the Israeli president, Reuven Rivlin. William later told President Rivlin that Yad Vashem had “taught me quite a lot more than I thought I already knew about the true horrors of what happened to the Jews over the war”.
On Wednesday, he is scheduled to meet the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and Palestinian refugees and young people in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The Foreign Office has said the prince’s five-day Middle East tour, which began in Jordan, is non-political. There was a personal connection, too, for the prince, whose great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Greece, the mother of the Duke of Edinburgh, was granted the highest honour Israel grants to non-Jews for her role in hiding a Jewish family in her Athens palace during the Nazi occupation of Greece.
The prince’s visit comes at a time of heightened tensions in the region, with deadly clashes on the Gaza border following protests as Israel marks its 70th anniversary year, and US president Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. William was scheduled to meet Abbas, as well as Palestinian refugees and young people, in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
“We know this is not a time when we can celebrate progress in the Middle East peace process, 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, said on Monday. “We know some of the politics are difficult, but this is not a political visit.” The prince’s visit comes amid growing tensions in the region, with deadly clashes on the Gaza border following protests as Israel marks its 70th anniversary year, and the decision by the US president, Donald Trump, to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the disputed holy city of Jerusalem.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) condemned the prime minister’s office after the Associated Press’s chief television producer, Nebi Qena, who had been accredited to cover Netanyahu’s meeting with the prince, was apparently barred by security guards who repeatedly asked about his “extraction”. Colleagues of Qena, who is originally from Albania and was educated in the UK, were allegedly questioned about his religion and whether he was a Muslim.
The FPA said the incident was “disgraceful” and described it as “ethnic profiling”.
An AP spokesman said: “The Associated Press decries this blatant ethnic and religious profiling of an AP journalist and calls on the prime minister’s office to cease such biased practice immediately.”
Kensington Palace declined to comment.
Agencies contributed to this reportAgencies contributed to this report
Prince WilliamPrince William
IsraelIsrael
HolocaustHolocaust
Palestinian territoriesPalestinian territories
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
MonarchyMonarchy
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