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Britain’s Prince William on historic trip to Israel and West Bank

By AFP
June 23, 2018

JERUSALEM: Prince William will next week become the first member of Britain’s royal family ever to pay an official visit to both Israel and the Palestinian territories. 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 a conflict that continues to wrack the region. Second in line to the British throne, the 36-year-old will arrive Monday without his wife Kate, who in April gave birth to their third child, Prince Louis. William’s visit comes at a particularly sensitive time after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as capital of Israel and moved Washington’s embassy there, sparking Arab outrage and deadly clashes on Israel’s border with Gaza.