United States Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi will visit Israel on Wednesday, Israeli media reported Sunday.
She will visit the Knesset, where lawmakers will welcome her at an official ceremony before observing the proceedings in the plenary session.
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Foreign Minister Yair Lapid with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Washington last October
( Photo: GPO)
Pelosi maintains a good relationship with the American Jewish community. She has stressed on multiple occasions her support for Israel and her willingness to ensure that aid to the state remains a bipartisan issue despite growing criticism of Israeli policy from the progressive wing of her party.
In her meeting with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid last October, Pelosi said that support for Israel "for many of us is in our DNA," noting that her father (a Democratic congressman) pushed then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt to support the creation of the State of Israel.
“Israel has always been bipartisan in the Congress of the United States, and it continues to be so," she stated.
Pelosi also met with Defense Minister Benny Gantz during this trip. In September, the two leaders spoke after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved $1 billion in emergency funding for the Iron Dome missile defense system.
She also quoted the Israeli lyricist Ehud Manor during a speech: "I recall the words of the great Israeli poet Ehud Manor when he said 'I can't keep silent. In light of how my country has changed, her face won't quit trying to remind her in her ears. I'll sing my cries until she opens her eyes,'" she said on the House floor, according to Haaretz.