Tel Aviv: The Israeli Cabinet member in charge of Jerusalem Zeev Elkin has called on the staff of Britain’s Prince William to correct the itinerary for his upcoming official visit to Israel that lists Jerusalem as being in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories".
The itinerary details most of the stops the British Prince will be making when he embarks on the first official state visit to Israel by a member of the royal family, from June 24-28. Besides Jerusalem, the Prince will also visit the Jordanian city of Jerash, Tel Aviv in Israel, and Ramallah in Palestine.
Prince William will begin his tour in neighboring Jordan this Sunday, June 24, and will land in Israel the following evening. He will be staying at Jerusalem's King David Hotel – which was the main administrative building of officials during the British Mandate era, from 1920-1948.
His official itinerary was released online over a week ago. But it was only when Zeev Elkin complained Monday about it describing Jerusalem's Old City as being in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that the public became aware of it.
“United Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for 3,000 years and no distortion in the tour itinerary can change that reality,” Elkin said in a statement that was also posted on Facebook on Monday. “I expect the prince’s people to correct the distortion.”
“It’s regrettable that Britain chose to politicize the Royal visit,” Elkin also said, according to Ynet.
The Occupied Palestinian Territories section of the itinerary says the prince will receive a “short briefing on the history and geography of Jerusalem’s Old City from a viewing point at the Mount of Olives.” His great-grandmother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, is buried at the Mount of Olives.
Prince William and the Kensington Palace have not announced all the sites included in the trip, but an informed source told the Israeli news website that he would visit Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of Saint John the Baptist and Al-Buraq (Western) Wall.
East Jerusalem is considered occupied under international law.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Arabs have planned a conference at the Russian Embassy and are also trying to use the visit of Prince William on June 25, 2018 to have the British declare that Jerusalem is Palestinian.
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