For the first time in history a member of the British royal family visits Israel in recognition of the Jewish state...


JERUSALEM — Prince William began his visit to Israel on Tuesday with an emotional tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, a soccer game with Arab and Jewish youth and an introduction to Tel Aviv’s vibrant start-up scene.

The prince is the first member of the British royal family to pay an official visit to Israel. 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.

Prince William was today asked to take a 'message of peace' by the President of Israel to the President of Palestine when he meets him this week. At a meeting in Jerusalem, President Reuven Rivlin, asked the British second in line to the throne, who is this week due to become the first British Royal to officially visit both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to tell him the time had come for their two regions to find a way to solve the 'tragedy between us'. Mr Rivlin said: 'I would like you....to send President Abbas a message of peace.’ Earlier, William took part in an emotional ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial and Museum’s Hall of Remembrance in Jerusalem (pictured) where the prince, who was wearing a yarmulke, also known as a kippah or skull cap, laid a wreath.