In exactly three weeks, one of the black clouds that has darkened Israel-UK relations ever since the end of the British Mandate in Palestine is expected to dissipate as if it never existed: A senior member of the royal family is to make an official visit, initiated by the United Kingdom, to Israel.

Israel’s foreign service considers the upcoming event to be a breakthrough. On numerous occasions in the past, various individuals and organizations sought to invite the queen herself or representatives of the crown to Israel, but the Foreign Office blocked the moves, in accordance with Buckingham Palace’s long-standing policy, according to which no official visit by a senior royal would take place until significant progress on an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement was made.

The task was originally assigned to Prince Harry, but it was decided that he and the former Meghan Markle would not take a Middle Eastern honeymoon after their well-publicized wedding last month, and the mission fell to Harry’s brother, Prince William. Their father, Prince Charles, did in fact visit Israel to attend the funerals of Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres – after the latter, he made a secret visit to Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives to pay his respects to the grave of his grandmother, Princess Alice – but because these were not considered official visits, Prince William’s will be the first. He is also expected to visit Ramallah, the seat of government of the Palestinian Authority.

Read the full article in Haaretz.