MembersA ‘Heavy Stone’ for Visiting Prince William

The British Royal Family is supposed to refrain from making political statements, in particular in regards to foreign policy. But that becomes a very tall order when visiting the Holy Land, and especially Jerusalem.

Prince William performed admirably in this regard during his three-day tour of the region, managing to avoid any slips of the tongue in meetings with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders who were determined to get him on their side.

One trap the prince couldn’t avoid was meeting Israel’s top leaders – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin – in Jerusalem, where the official residences of both are located.

But meeting with the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, a city the Palestinians also claim as their capital, was apparently a step too far.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also requested an audience with William. It was a request that could have been easily accommodated given that the prince spent his entire final day of the tour in the city. Barkat could have simply joined him at any one of a number of stops.

That, however,...