Prince William meets Palestinian president

Britain’s Prince William delivers a speech during a reception at the British ambassador residence in in Ramat Gan, Israel on June 26, 2018. AP

RAMALLAH, West Bank  — Prince William has arrived in the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Duke of Cambridge was greeted on Wednesday by an honor guard before sitting down with the Palestinian leader.

The prince is the first member of the British royal family to pay an official visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Though the trip is being billed as non-political, the prince is meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and visiting sites at the heart of the century-old conflict.

The Palestinians have been eager to welcome the prince, hoping his visit will give them a boost as they struggle with a Trump administration they consider biased in favor of Israel.

For the 36-year-old William, it marks a high-profile visit that could burnish his international credentials.

Prince William is visiting Israel’s cultural and financial capital of Tel Aviv and meeting young artists and entrepreneurs.

The Duke of Cambridge began the second full day of his historic royal visit to Israel Wednesday by strolling Tel Aviv’s trendy Rothschild Boulevard, named after the late 19th-century British-Jewish banker and philanthropist who contributed greatly to the Jewish community in the Holy Land. There he met Netta Barzilai, winner of this year’s Eurovision song contest, and had a cold drink at one of the boulevard’s famous kiosks.

He then attended a cultural event at a museum where he met young people engaged in youth activism.

The prince, second in line to the throne, then travels to the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. /ee