Nancy Pelosi from Jerusalem: Israel is 20th Century's Greatest Accomplishment

The establishment of the State of Israel is the greatest accomplishment of the 20th century, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi told reporters at the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, on Wednesday.

Pelosi said the United States will continue to support its ally, Israel, against the threat from Iran.

“We are together in the fight against terrorism posed by Iran, both in the region and also its nuclear development. The nuclear threat by Iran is a global one. It is a threat to the world,” Pelosi, who is heading a delegation of congresspeople, said.

“Israel’s proximity to Iran is a concern to all of us and a responsibility for all of us,” she said.

Talks to return to the tattered 2015 Iran nuclear deal are continuing in Austria. On Tuesday, Israeli diplomats met with delegates from the world powers in Vienna to discuss the accord.

Dozens of first-graders from Gaza border towns, including Sderot, greeted Pelosi in the Knesset plenum holding U.S. and Israeli flags in a gesture of appreciation for American funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system which has intercepted tens of thousands of rockets from the Hamas-ruling enclave.

“For many years, you have defended our right to protect our citizens, and you have stood by us even in the most difficult of times, as we saw just recently during the last operation in Gaza,” Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy told Pelosi. “The passage of the law to fund the replenishment of the Iron Dome system will forever be associated with you, and always as one of the greatest displays of support by the American people and by the United States House of Representatives for the State of Israel. The State of Israel could not have asked for a better friend.”

Levy also expressed the need for Israel and the U.S. to be allied in the face of the Iranian threat.

“Iran is a terror state whose actions are aimed at wreaking havoc and destruction in every corner of the world. We remember the firm support of the United States for Israel’s security throughout history. We are all here in the Knesset of Israel with a uniform message that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear capabilities,” Levy said.