Israel’s president has today asked Boris Johnson to pass on an invitation to the Royal Family to visit Israel to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration.
President Reuven Rivlin conveyed the message Wednesday to visiting UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, saying: “This is a very important year in the history of the relations between Israel and the UK.”
Meeting in Jerusalem, Rivlin added: “We will mark 100 years since the Balfour Declaration and I am greatly honoured to extend an official invitation to the Royal family to visit Israel to mark this event.”
Rivlin noted that 2017 is the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a document signed on 2 November, 1917, by the UK’s then foreign secretary, Arthur James Balfour, which announced his government’s intention to facilitate “a national home for the Jewish people” in the Land of Israel.
Johnson said the British were “looking forward to the commemorations,” adding, “we see our historic role in Israel and in the region, and we want to bolster and build our bilateral relations. The future is cooperation.”
Were the Queen and Prince Philip to visit, it is likely that they would attend the grave of Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, who was recognised as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ by Yad Vashem for sheltering Jewish refugees in Athens. She is buried at the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
Christians United for Israel UK
