His mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, never set foot in Israel, possibly because she had been around when the British Empire was kicked out of the Holy Land by a small gathering of fierce underground fighters with little patience for colonialist double-dealing and intrigue. But King Charles III, who was recently officially crowned, is planning to pay a visit to both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the Daily Mail reported Sunday.
The Mail’s Melanie Swan reported from Tel Aviv that the new King has “signaled his desire to visit Israel.” She cited Conservative MP Baron Stuart Polak, who suggested that early preparations were underway for Charles to become the first British sovereign to visit Israel (well, at least since Richard the Lionheart). Polak believes the fact that the former mandatory territory is celebrating the 75th anniversary of its independence this year would be a nice opportunity for Charles to make an appearance.
A former director of Conservative Friends of Israel (for more than 25 years), Polak told The Mail: “There is no doubt that Charles will be the one to break this pattern. The preparation has been done by his team to pave the way for this visit.”
Charles will also visit the PA, to avoid controversy. As Prince of Wales, he has visited Israel three times, including in January 2020, when he visited the grave of his grandmother Princess Alice of Battenberg (Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark) as part of his trip to Jerusalem to participate in the Yad Vashem Holocaust Forum. Princess Alice (1885 – 1969) was the mother of Prince Philip and mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II.
According to The Mail, President Itzhak Herzog has been lobbying the King to visit, and sources said the only “stumbling blocks” in setting a date were the rocket attacks from Gaza.
