In 1986, Prince Charles blamed 'foreign' Jews for turmoil in the Middle East

In correspondence with a friend, the heir to the throne also deplores the refusal of American presidents to engage in the 'Jewish lobby'

In a recently published letter from 1986, Prince Charles suggested that “the influx of foreign European Jews” was responsible for the Arab-Israeli conflict, further lamenting the failure of US presidents to end it. »

The November 24, 1986 letter was written to a friend, explorer Laurens van der Post, after a visit to the Gulf with Princess Diana. It was published by the Daily Mail this Sunday. Charles wrote that he now had greater insight into Arab hostility toward Israel after the trip.

“To also begin to understand their point of view on Israel. I never realized they considered it an American colony,” he wrote. “I appreciate now that the Arabs and the Jews were all originally Semitic people + it was the influx of foreign European Jews (especially from Poland, they say) that helped cause great problems. »

Charles, who was 38 at the time, then suggested that Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel was a root cause of terrorism that needed to be addressed.

“I know there are so many complex issues, but how can terrorism be stopped unless the causes are removed? “, He wrote.

It was unclear from the letter whether he was referring to European Jews who immigrated to Israel before or after the Holocaust and the establishment of the country in 1948.

Charles also wrote that he hoped an American president would take on the “Jewish lobby,” presumably to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“Certainly an American president must have the courage to stand up and take on the Jewish lobby in the United States,” Charles wrote. “I must be naive, I guess. »

Following the publication of the letter, the editor of the weekly Jewish Chronicle called its content "shocking" and criticized the prince's use of the term "Jewish lobby".

“For me, this is the most astonishing element of the prince's letter. The 'Jewish lobby' is one of the anti-Semitic themes that have persisted for centuries. It's this myth, there are these very powerful Jews who control foreign policy or the media or the banks or whatever," Stephen Pollard was quoted as saying by the Email.

Pollard also said that the views in the letter expressed by Charles were "the absolute classic Arab explanation of the problems in the Middle East." »

“And that's what everybody always said about the British aristocracy – the idea that Jews were foreigners who didn't really belong in Israel until we decided to. make their homeland,” Pollard said. "Historically it's nonsense and it's quite stunning when it comes from the heir to the throne. »

A spokeswoman for Prince Charles said the letter did not reflect his views but merely relayed arguments he had heard during his trip.

"He was sharing the arguments in private correspondence with a longtime friend in an effort to improve his understanding of what he always recognized to be a deeply complex issue in his own analysis in 1986," the spokeswoman said. .

She also announced that Prince Charles "has continued his study of the complex and difficult themes he has mentioned here" and defended his "proven track record of supporting Jewish and Arab communities around the world" and promoting inter-state dialogue. -religious.

In March, President Reuven Rivlin publicly invited Prince Charles to visit Israel during the centenary of the 1917 Balfour Declaration, although British media said the prince would not visit the Jewish state in 2017.

Although it was never officially confirmed by London or Jerusalem, a senior British Jewish community official told the Times of Israel last November that plans were underway for a member of the royal family to visit Israel for the first time.

According to the tabloid The Sun, The Royal Family Visits Committee, the branch of the Foreign Office which coordinates travel on behalf of the royal family, denied the visit in an apparent effort 'to avoid upsetting Arab countries in the region which regularly host British royals . »

No member of the British royal family has ever made an official visit to Israel

The report said Rivlin's invitation never reached Prince Charles' office.

While royalty have visited Israel in the past, no representative of the British monarchy has ever come to the country on an official "royal tour".

Prince Charles' attendance at the funeral of Shimon Peres last year and the funeral of slain Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1994 did not include diplomatic meetings and are not considered official royal visits. In 1994, her father, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, did not have the opportunity to attend a ceremony commemorating his mother, Alice of Battenberg, who is buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Despite numerous invitations over the years, no British government has approved such a visit to Israel since the end of the British Mandate and the establishment of the state in 1948.

Israeli officials have bristled at the reluctance of royalty to come to the Jewish state, while they seem to have no qualms about visiting authoritarian states like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Times of Israel staff contributed to this article.

Source: ©  In 1986, Prince Charles blamed 'foreign' Jews for turmoil in the Middle East | The Times of Israel