Britain's Prince William begins official Palestine visit

JERUSALEM - Prince William honoured Holocaust victims and met Israeli leaders Tuesday as he began the first official visit by a British royal to both Israel and the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, at a time of heightened tensions.

The second in line to the British throne, wearing a black skullcap, rekindled the eternal flame and laid a wreath at Israel's Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem as a youth choir sang.

The 36-year-old prince also toured the museum at the site perched on a forested hillside in west Jerusalem as part of a Middle East tour that first took him to Jordan.

Britain governed the region under a League of Nations mandate for almost three decades until Israel's independence 70 years ago. It supported the colonial project of settling European Jews in the historic land of Palestine.

William's visit comes at a particularly sensitive time after US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as capital of Israel, outraging Palestinians and sparking protests in the Gaza Strip where dozens of Palestinians, including children and medical personnel, were shot dead by the Israeli military.

William met with two Holocaust survivors, Paul Alexander and Henry Foner, who as children had escaped from Nazi Germany to Britain as part of the "Kindertransport" programme.

William also visited the grave of his great grandmother, Princess Alice, who was honoured by Yad Vashem in 1993 for sheltering Jews in Greece from the Nazis during World War II.

"We must never forget the Holocaust," the prince wrote in the visitors' book in neat italic script.

"We all have a responsibility to remember and to teach future generations about the horrors of the past so that they can never reoccur."

"I am honoured that my own great-grandmother is one of these Righteous among the Nations."

Prince William later headed for talks with Israeli leaders. He met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara before visiting President Reuven Rivlin.

"I had a very moving tour round Yad Vashem this morning which really taught me quite a lot more than I thought I already knew about the true horrors of what happened to the Jews in the war," he told Rivlin in front of journalists.

A journalist with the Associated Press was reportedly prevented from covering the Prince's earlier visit to the prime minister's official residence after security agents questioned him about his religion and ethnic background.

The AP reported that Nebi Qena, an Albanian citizen who has been with the news agency for ten years, was held at the entrance for 45 minutes while other journalists were allowed to enter. Qena said he was repeatedly questioned by the Israeli security guards about his "ethnic origin."

Netanyahu's office later apologized, citing "human error."

'Not a political visit'

British officials stressed the visit of the future king was non-political and focused on building relations with young people.

Yet he is likely to rub up against the complicated realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly while visiting the occupied holy city of Jerusalem.

William arrived in Israel from Jordan on Monday evening without his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, who gave birth to their third child two months ago.

On Wednesday he is scheduled to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, before meeting Palestinian refugees and young people.

On Thursday, he is to complete his stay by visiting historical and religious sites in occupied Jerusalem.

"We know this is not a time when we can celebrate progress in the Middle East peace progress, 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, told journalists on Monday.

"We know some of the politics are difficult, but this is not a political visit."

Israel defines Jerusalem as the "eternal and indivisible" capital of those who follow the Jewish faith, while indigenous Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their state.

Trump's decision in December to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital sparked outrage across the Arab and Muslim world, and the May inauguration of the US embassy in the city coincided with the bloody border protests in the Gaza Strip.

Some right-wing Israeli politicians have criticised the fact William's visit to east Jerusalem is being organised by the British consulate, which deals with the Palestinians.

Hall said they were following "decades" of rulings in the United Nations that declare east Jerusalem, including the Old City, part of the occupied Palestinian territories.

"There is no change in the position."

Israel seized the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War. It later annexed east Jerusalem in a move that was never recognised by the international community.

Official visits by British royals are organised at the request of the UK government.

Other members of William's family -- including his father Prince Charles -- have made unofficial visits to Israel and east Jerusalem in the past.