The creation of the State of Israel was "one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century," U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said on Wednesday, as Israel was celebrating 71 years of independence.
"My view of the establishment of the State of Israel is one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century; it was a political, official establishment of a country," she told The Washington Post. "It was so exciting."
"Israel, we have shared values. Our friend in the Middle East for a long time – our only friend, our most serious partner in the Middle East, let me put it that way," she continued. "So Israel's security is very, very important to us."
Pelosi warned that the prospects of achieving a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have been dimming, but "a peaceful resolution of that is what members of Congress, by and large, would support."
"There are some [in the Democratic Party] who have said things that are not a reflection of our consensus, you know, and we have pointed that out," she said. "But again, Israel's security is important to us. We think Israel's security is further ensured by having a two-state solution, and we don't want to move away from that."
Pelosi's comments came as the Trump administration is expected to release its Mideast peace plan after Israel forms a new government and after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started on May 5 and concludes on June 4.
This article is reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
