Prince William In The Holy Land

Britain’s Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, gives a wave as he leaves the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in central London, on April 23, 2018, after his wife Britain’s Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, gave birth to a son, their third child. Image by ISABEL INFANTES/AFP/Getty Images

By Dan Friedman June 25, 2018

Prince William today will begin the first ever official visit to Israel by a member of the British royal family.

Due to arrive from Jordan on the evening of June 25 for a three-day tour he will visit, among other places, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem’s Old City and two as-yet unspecified events in Tel Aviv.

Though the visit is explicitly non-political, he will meet separately with all the leaders in the region. On Tuesday, he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin and then on Wednesday he will travel to Ramallah, in the West Bank, to meet President Mahmoud Abbas.

On a lighter note, the Duke of Cambridge — an avid soccer fan, supporting Aston Villa in the English Premier League — will play in a friendly soccer game with children in Jaffa.

Dan Friedman is the former executive editor and whisky correspondent of the Forward, and is the author of a book about Tears for Fears, the ’80s emo rock band.

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