Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby's stance on Palestine to come under scrutiny

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, met members of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem. He also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and prayed at the Western Wall.

He is on a five-day tour of the Middle East, which will see his stance on the Israeli and Palestinian conflict scrutinised.

Earlier this year he said he regretted last summer’s vote by the Synod supporting a group that places Christian human rights observers in the Occupied Territories. Dr Welby had said the motion failed to reflect the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It had attracted strong opposition from British Jewish groups.

Dr Welby learned recently that his father had been born a Jew and previously unknown family members had died in the Holocaust.