http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/135846 Italian PM's Mother Remembered in Knesset
by Hillel Fendel
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(IsraelNN.com) Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in a special diplomatic speech on Wednesday in the Knesset, said that Israel’s main danger is Iran, attacked the Goldstone Report, and in general expressed strong support for Israel.
It was Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who stole the show, however, when he told the Knesset of an Italian woman who endangered herself during World War II to protect a Nazi-threatened Jewish woman. At the end of the story, Netanyahu said that the woman was none other than Berlusconi's mother – and the entire Knesset assemblage stood on its feet and applauded.
Berlusconi’s speech was replete with warmth and support for Israel, without a word of criticism. He said that Italy would fight for Israel’s security, that he does not accept the Goldstone Report’s conclusions, and that Israel was within its rights to defend itself against the Hamas rockets. He also called upon the international community not to allow Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, noting that Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmedinajad negates Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
Netanyahu, after recounting the ups - and also some downs - of Italian-Israeli relations over the years, began telling of an Italian woman in a train station who encountered a Jewish girl being threatened by a Nazi policeman. The woman courageously positioned herself in between the two, Netanyahu said, and made it clear that if the Nazi attempted to take the girl, “no one in this station will let you get out of here alive.”
“The name of that woman,” Netanyahu continued dramatically, “was Rosa, and this is her son – Silvio Berlusconi.” After the applause, in which Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin joined as well – Berlusconi was sitting in between them on the Knesset podium – Netanyahu continued, “You inherited from your mother the strength to stand firmly by the side of the Jewish Nation against those who seek its destruction, as you lead the camp of those who support Israel in the European Union.”
More Guarded Earlier in the Week
Earlier this week, however, Berlusconi was more guarded in his words. He said in an interview, "The time has come for Syria and Israel to act together for the sake of peace, in the framework of which the Golan Heights will be returned..." He also said that "Israel’s settlement policy could be an obstacle to peace... It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel’s good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a piece agreement. At the same time, what happened in Gaza should prompt some thought. It is inconceivable to evacuate [Gush Katif] communities to [then] face burned synagogues, acts of destruction, and inter-Palestinian violence and missiles being shot into Israeli territory."
Knesset Speaker Rivlin, who also spoke at the Knesset session, noted that though the Italian leader is of the opinion that Israel should cede the Golan Heights to Syria, “Many in the Jewish Nation in Israel see the Golan as an integral and inseparable part of their homeland.”
Topic: P.M. Silvio Berlusconi Mother saved Jewish girl (Read 1298 times)