King Charles III: Friend of the Jews of the United Kingdom, with historical ties to Israel

Charles III, the 73-year-old monarch who succeeded Queen Elizabeth II after her death, is the oldest person to hold the British throne. As well as bolstering his reputation with Israel in recent years, Carlos has long enjoyed a positive connection with British Jewry.

After all, the UK ruled the Jewish state from 1920 to 1948, so the royal family has a long history with the country. In 2020, during Charles’ state visit to Israel, President Reuven Rivlin noted that he and many other Israelis of his generation were born subjects of Charles’s grandfather, King George VI.

Carlos maintains strong relationships with leaders and institutions in the British Jewish community, and has shown a deep interest in Holocaust literature and history. He has met with the two presidents of Israel, both of whom are very dear to him, and toured the nation in 2020, marking the first time that a sitting president of the United States had visited Israel.

Below are some of the more notable aspects of the new British monarch’s relationship with Jews, the Jewish state, and other related topics.

Links with Israel

After attending the funerals of Isaac Rabin and Shimon Peres, Charles finally made his first official visit to Israel in 2020. With this visit, he became the highest-ranking member of the royal family to do so since the country’s inception.

Carlos visited with then-President Rivlin and planted a tree at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem while he was in the nation for the World Holocaust Forum.

President Reuven Rivlin and Prince Charles of England at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on January 23, 2020 (Mark Neyman/GPO)

The group of Holocaust survivors Carlos met with visited the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Israeli scientific and medical innovations were showcased during a reception he attended at the home of the British ambassador in Ramat Gan.

Princess Alice of Battenberg, Charles’s grandmother, was buried in the Church of the Madeleine on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. As part of her tour, Carlos secretly visited her grave.

Due to her efforts to protect a Jewish family in Greece during the Holocaust, the princess has been named Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem. Carlos has stated that the steps she has taken from her have given him and the royal family “an immense pride”.

At the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Israel, on Friday, January 2020, Britain’s Prince Charles, pictured center, leaves after visiting the grave of his grandmother, Princess Alice . Photo taken by Neil Hall/Pool for the Associated Press.

Carlos and Israeli President Isaac Herzog met in London in November 2021 during Herzog’s state visit to the UK; their conversation focused on climate change, regional dangers, and Holocaust education. The president’s office stated that the scholarship “pays tribute to [su] kindness, deep spirituality and enormous perseverance to help those in need” and was a “unique gift” from Herzog to the British monarch.

Holocaust and antisemitism awareness

In his speech at the 2020 World Holocaust Forum in Jerusalem, Carlos reminded the assembled world leaders of the “so relevant” lessons from the Holocaust, saying that hatred and prejudice “now tell new falsehoods, adopt new disguises and continue to seek new victims.

We, as a world community, have to “be brave in challenging falsehoods and be determined to fight against words and acts of violence,” he said. To prevent discord from germinating and spreading, “we must take care of the land of our civilizations.”

Carlos has already expressed concern about the rise of anti-Semitism and bigotry in the UK.

On January 23, 2020, world leaders including Vladimir Putin, Reuven Rivlin, Emmanuel Macron, and Prince Charles of the United Kingdom gathered at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem for the World Holocaust Forum. (Screenshot)

For the 2022 celebration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Prince Charles commissioned paintings of seven Holocaust survivors to be hung in Buckingham Palace.

Connections with the Jewish community in Great Britain

Charles honored “our Jewish community’s contribution to the health, wealth and happiness of the United Kingdom” at a pre-Hanukah reception held at Buckingham Palace in 2019.

“In all walks of life, in all spheres of achievement, our nation could not have had kinder citizens, or more dedicated friends.”

Both “those who are not household names, but are cornerstones of their own local communities” and “those who are household names, but are cornerstones of society at large” were mentioned as notable members of the Jewish community. British and its contributions to society.

Lord Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, was also a personal friend of Charles. Carlos described Sacks as an “irreplaceable loss” and “a trusted advisor, an inspiring teacher and a loyal and steadfast friend” after his death in 2020.

At the farewell dinner, Prince Charles was joined by Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. Thank you very much. (John Rifkins)

“Rabbi Sacks impacted the lives of countless people with his constant knowledge, with his deep sanity and with a moral commitment that, in a confused and disoriented world, was all too rare,” he said.

“He and I were exact contemporaries, born the year the State of Israel was created, and I came to rely heavily on his advice over many years.”

I will miss him more than I can express.

Defender of all faiths?

Instead of making the conventional commitment to be a “defender of the faith”, Charles claimed in 1994 that he could be a “defender of the creeds” as king.

During a follow-up interview with the BBC in 2015, he elaborated on his stance, saying, “As I tried to convey, I care about the inclusion of other people’s religions and their freedom to worship in this country.” It has always seemed to me that one can be both a defender of the faith and a guardian of creeds.

Regarding the Palestinians

Carlos spoke with Palestinian officials and toured Judea and Samaria during his trip to Israel in 2020. When asked about his feelings at the time, he stated that they were broken by the “suffering” and “difficulties” of the Palestinians.

Britain’s Sky News called his comments “the biggest show of support a member of the royal family has ever shown for the Palestinians.”

During his stay in Bethlehem, a city considered sacred by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus, the prince expressed his sadness at the pain and strife that continues in the world.

Continuing, Carlos said, “And I can only join you, and all the communities, in your prayers for a just and lasting peace” at Casa Nova, a Franciscan pilgrim residence near the Church of the Nativity. “With unwavering conviction, we must work to repair the wounds that have caused so much suffering.”

He continued: “My deepest wish is that all Palestinians can enjoy freedom, fairness and equality that will allow them to flourish and prosper in the years to come.”

Admiration for Jewish artists

Carlos spoke of his admiration for Canadian-Jewish musician Leonard Cohen on an edition of Radio 3’s ongoing broadcast, Private Passions, in 2018.

“I have always adored Leonard Cohen’s voice and his general approach to singing,” he commented. The singing and writing of this man were very refined. “He affected me deeply because the phrases are very unique and evocative; they remind me of the work of Salvador Dal and transport the reader to a fantastic universe”.

Carlos has also talked about his relationship with Else Mayer-Lismann, a music scholar who left Nazi Germany for the UK and introduced him to opera.

On September 30, 2016, at Mount Herzl National Cemetery in Jerusalem, Britain’s Prince Charles paid his respects during the funeral of former Israeli President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres. Photo by Abir Sultan/AFP/Pool.

During an interview with The Telegraph, he reflected on how lucky he was to have met Else Mayer-Lismann in the 1980s through a mutual acquaintance. It was impossible not to be inspired by Else’s boundless enthusiasm for opera and other forms of classical music and her charisma as her character. Hearing her talk about the history and inspiration behind the various operas, especially Wagner’s, completely changed how much I enjoyed the show itself.

Adolf Hitler loved the music of Richard Wagner, and his music was played in Nazi concentration camps. Wagner’s grandiose, nationalistic literary and musical work of the 19th century is full of racism, sexism, and proto-Nazi concepts of racial purity.

On Putin and Ukraine

During the invasion of Ukraine in 2014, when Russian President Vladimir Putin attacked Ukrainian territory for the first time, Carlos compared Putin’s actions to those of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany during World War II.

He has been more circumspect about the war in 2022, but in May he visited Romanian refugees, most of whom were women and children from Ukraine.

He told them: “We are deeply sorry for you, it is an appalling circumstance”. The Ukrainian people have my utmost respect. Overall, unfathomable bravery and toughness.

Via:
With information from The Times of Israel

King Charles III: Friend of the Jews of the United Kingdom, with historical ties to Israel