Israel

Israel

What Did King Charles III Say to Israel’s President at His Coronation?

Israelis were glued to the Royal Coronation which had several interesting connections to Israel and the Jewish people.

King Charles III and Queen Camilla at their coronation in London. Photo by EPA-EFE/Neil Hall
King Charles III and Queen Camilla at their coronation in London. Photo by EPA-EFE/Neil Hall

Israelis, like many people in the West, were glued to their televisions on Saturday to watch the coronation of England’s King Charles III.

Israeli media happily repeated the fact that the olive oil used to consecrate the United Kingdom’s new monarch came from the Mount of Olives, where Charles’ grandmother Princess Alice of Greece is buried, and was the produce of some of the oldest olive trees in the Holy Land.

Israelis were also proud to be represented at the coronation by President Isaac Herzog.

ASIDE: Herzog’s grandfather, Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of an independent Ireland and a supporter of the Irish republican movement against the British. He later made Aliyah and became Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine and then of the newborn State of Israel.

The Crown gave special consideration to both Herzog and UK Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis by accommodating them near Westminster Abbey so that they could walk to the coronation and not break Sabbath laws by riding in a vehicle.

Rabbi Mirvis noted that in centuries past Jews were barred from royal coronations, and now they are honored.

“What an extraordinary Shabbat!” Rabbi Mirvis exclaimed in a Twitter video clip. In his earlier post, the UK Chief Rabbi expressed his gratitude for Charles’ longstanding “warm relationship with British Jews.”

At the official reception following the coronation, Israel’s Ynet news portal reports that King Charles spotted Herzog and his wife and had attendants bring them to the front of the line so he could chat with the Israelis.

According to Hebrew media, Charles asked Herzog about Israel’s internal crisis over judicial reform. The president assured the king that Israel remains a “strong and vibrant democracy.”

Several other world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, US First Lady Jill Biden and Jordan’s King Abdullah II also inquired of Herzog regarding the situation in Israel.

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Patrick Callahan

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