King Charles, Prince William & Kate issued statements on the Hamas attack on Israel

On Friday, Hamas terrorists began their coordinated assault on Israelis, raiding the kibbutzim near the Gaza border and launching rockets into Israel, some of which made it to Tel Aviv. Israel’s “Iron Dome” defense system was seemingly overwhelmed by the attack. The Israeli death toll has gone past 1000 – this is the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust, and many of the dead are women and children. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu has retaliated to the terrorist attack by waging war against Palestinians, shutting off water, electricity and supplies to Gaza and engaging in widespread bombing. Thousands of Palestinians have been killed or injured in the Israeli bombardment since Hamas launched their terrorist attack.

This is a huge political and humanitarian disaster, made much worse by misinformation, disinformation and every single person, business and group feeling the need to chime in with their “take.” I simply wish more celebrities and non-political public figures would send thoughts and prayers to Palestinians and Israelis and leave the nuanced conversations to historians, diplomats, humanitarians and foreign policy experts. Or better yet for celebrities, say nothing – there’s absolutely no reason why the world needs to know what Kylie Jenner thinks about Israel and Palestine. There is no way to “win” at this moment from a celebrity-PR perspective.

Adding to the ongoing catastrophe is a series of grotesque political realities: Netanyahu was warned about the Hamas attack in advance and did nothing; political support for Netanyahu seems quite fragile all of a sudden; Israel’s defense capability looks weak and unprepared, despite billions in foreign aid for decades; Donald Trump was likely the source of information about Israel’s military weaknesses, and Trump likely told Russia, Russia told Iran and Iran told Hamas.

Enter Prince William and Kate. I’m actually surprised that they didn’t release a half-assed statement over the weekend, but I suspect they were banned from making any statement before King Charles. Charles waited until Wednesday to address the situation, then William and Kate went after him. Keep in mind, William visited Israel in 2018 and declared that he would make “peace in the Middle East” his “lifelong project” and he would “forever honour my commitments” to the people he met. He literally never mentioned Israel or Palestine again in the next five years, but better late than never.

King Charles, Prince William and Kate Middleton are voicing support for Israel after the surprise attacks by Hamas militants killed over 1,000 civilians last weekend. On Wednesday, the Prince and Princess of Wales released a statement on social media. The message marked the couple’s first comment on the Oct. 7 attack. The violence by Hamas, which the U.S. classifies as a terrorist organization, prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare the same day that his country is “at war.”

“A spokesperson for The Prince and Princess of Wales said, ‘The Prince and Princess of Wales are profoundly distressed by the devastating events that have unfolded in the past days. The horrors inflicted by Hamas’s terrorist attack upon Israel are appalling; they utterly condemn them.”

“As Israel exercises its right of self defence, all Israelis and Palestinians will continue to be stalked by grief, fear and anger in the time to come. Their Royal Highnesses hold all the victims, their families and their friends in their hearts and minds. Those The Prince of Wales met in 2018 overwhelmingly shared a common hope — that of a better future. In the midst of such terrible suffering, The Prince and Princess continue to share that hope without reservation.”

Though King Charles’ words of support for Israel amid the rapidly developing situation were not released to the royal family’s Royal.UK website or Royal Family social accounts, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace shared a statement on Wednesday.

“This is a situation His Majesty is extremely concerned about, and he has asked to be kept actively updated. His thoughts and prayers are with all of those suffering, particularly those who have lost loved ones, but also those actively involved as we speak,” the spokesperson said on the King’s behalf. “His Majesty is appalled by and condemns the barbaric acts of terrorism in Israel.”

PEOPLE has also learned that Charles, 74, spoke to President Herzog of Israel and King Abdullah of Jordan on the phone on Wednesday afternoon. Charles welcomed Herzog to Highgrove House during the president’s visit to England in 2021, and King Abdullah attended the May coronation with his wife, Queen Rania.

[From People]

Kensington Palace’s statement is mostly boilerplate, treading water stuff. Which, honestly, is fine with me. William is not a decision maker here nor is he a global statesman. He has no role to play beyond the boilerplate. Charles actually has relationships with many of these leaders, although I would assume that Prime Minister Sunak had to give permission to the king to call certain people and what could be said during the calls. Notice that Buckingham Palace didn’t say that Charles spoke to Bibi.

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.