On the final day of his visit to Israel, Prince William visited the Western Wall, one of the holiest places in Judaism, and prayed for peace, The Times of Israel reported Thursday.
Accompanied by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch, the rabbi of the wall, and British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, Prince William, wearing a black kippah, approached the wall by himself, slipped a note in one of the cracks, touched the ancient stones and meditated silently for a short period, before respectfully backing away from the wall and continuing on his way.
Afterwards he signed the wall’s guest book and wrote, “May the God of peace bless this region and all the world with peace.”
“Today we experienced a moment of history which will live long in the memory of Jews around the world,” Rabbi Mirvis said. “The Western Wall stands at the epicenter of our faith. To see the future monarch come to pay his respects was a remarkable gesture of friendship and a sign of the duke’s regard for the sanctity of Jerusalem.”
History is made as the Chief Rabbi accompanies HRH The Duke of Cambridge to the Western Wall in Jerusalem – standing at the epicentre of the Jewish world. pic.twitter.com/DrdMP158xO
— Chief Rabbi Mirvis (@chiefrabbi) June 28, 2018
After visiting the Western Wall, the prince went up to the Temple Mount, and entered the Dome of the Rock, which is usually prohibited for non-Muslims.
Earlier in the day he visited the tomb of his great-grandmother Princess Alice, who had shielded a number Jews during the Holocaust.
On Tuesday, Prince William visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust museum, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin. He told Rivlin that he hoped to use his time in Israel to “meet as many Israelis as possible – and understand Israeli history and culture.”
[Photo: Royal Family Channel / YouTube]