Britain’s Prince Charles is facing backlash for a letter he reportedly penned in 1986, in which he wondered who in the U.S. would take on the “Jewish lobby.”
The 31-year-old letter, which was reported on by the Daily Mail on Saturday, quotes Prince Charles as saying European Jews have “helped to cause great problems” in the Middle East, attributing the violence in the region to the massive movement of Jewish people to the area in the 20th century.
{mosads}The Prince of Wales goes on to express his hope that a U.S. president would stand up to the “Jewish lobby,” a comment that has sparked backlash.
The editor of The Jewish Chronicle, Stephen Pollard, ripped the prince’s use of the term “Jewish lobby,” saying the phrase is known to have anti-semitic undertones.
“To me this is the most astonishing element of the Prince’s letter. The ‘Jewish lobby’ is one of the anti-Semitic themes that have endured for centuries. It is this myth there are these very powerful Jews who control foreign policy or the media or banks or whatever,” Pollard said, according to the Mail.
“That they [the Prince’s comments] come from the heir to the throne is unsettling, to put it mildly,” he continued, adding that the letter was “jaw-droppingly shocking.”
A source told the Mail the prince is critical of U.S.-Israeli policy behind closed doors.
However, Charles has expressed concern about the recent revival of anti-Semitism in Europe.
He became the first member of the royal family to attend a chief rabbi’s inauguration ceremony in 2013, according to the publication.