Pelosi: Congress Stands by Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a warmer public reception from Congress than from the Obama administration, with a top Democrat and Republican welcoming the leader who has refused to back down in a disagreement with the White House over Israeli housing expansion in a disputed part of Jerusalem. “We in Congress stand by Israel,” the leader of the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, assured Netanyahu at an all-smiles appearance before the cameras. “In Congress we speak with one voice on the subject of Israel.”

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Biden Urges Israel to Take Risks for Peace

The U.S. will back those willing to “take risks for peace,” U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said during the highest-level visit to Israel by an Obama administration official. Biden said he was pleased that Israelis and Palestinians had agreed to resume indirect peace negotiations with U.S. mediation. His two-day visit to Israel seemed clearly aimed at assuaging Israeli concerns that President Obama has been less friendly to Israel than his predecessors, and Biden offered effusive praise.

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Berlusconi Vows Italy's Firm Support for Israel

During his visit to Israel in February, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi pledged his country’s firm support for Israel, urging “effective sanctions” against its archfoe Iran and speaking out against a damning UN report on the Gaza war. In a speech before a special session of the Knesset, Berlusconi said Israel “is not only the biggest example of democracy and liberty in the Middle East, but the only example.” Moreover, that “the security of Israel ... is for us Italians an ethical and moral imperative.”

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