JERUSALEM (AFP-EJP)---Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi this week pledged Italy's firm support for Israel, urging "effective sanctions" against Iran and speaking out against a damning UN report on the Gaza war.   

He also called on Israel to halt the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, calling it a "basic condition" for restarting peace talks with the Palestinians that were suspended more than a year ago.   

In a speech before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, Berlusconi said Israel "is not only the biggest example of democracy and liberty in the Middle East, but the only
example."   

"Today the security of Israel... is for us Italians an ethical and moral imperative," he said before a special session of the Knesset.   

Berlusconi said that it was the first time that he read from a prepared speech. As a rule, he is a spontaneous speaker, “but this time I wanted to weigh every word to ensure that the people of Israel would understand how much I and Italy care about Israel.  We love Israel and the Jewish people, regardless of political affiliation.”

"Italy is proud of its many gestures of solidarity towards your country... such as our vote against the Goldstone report, which sought to criminalise Israel for responding to the rockets Hamas fired from Gaza," he said, according to a written copy of his remarks.   

He was referring to a UN fact-finding report that was released in September and accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the 22-day conflict in December 2008-January 2009.   

On the issue of Iran, Berlusconi called for "resolute negotiations" and "effective sanctions" over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme, adding the international community must seek iron-clad guarantees from the Islamic republic.   

"The entire international community must decide to state clearly, unequivocally and unanimously that it is unacceptable that nuclear weapons should be in the hands of a state whose leaders have openly proclaimed the will to destroy Israel and have denied both the Holocaust and the legitimacy of the Jewish state," he said. 

Rosa Berlusconi

Before Berlusconi spoke, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the story of a heavily pregnant Italian woman who confronted a German officer during World War II and, at great peril to her own life, persuaded him to let an arrested Jewish woman go.

This woman’s actions “saved the life of the Jewish woman and cast, if only for a brief moment, a scintilla of humanity and courage upon the great darkness that enveloped the whole of Europe at that time,” Netanyahu said.

“That courageous woman’s name was Rosa. And one of her children is called Silvio Berlusconi, today the Prime Minister of Italy,” he added.

Netanyahu concluded his remarks by telling Berlusconi that, “We appreciate you. We embrace you. We love you.”

The two men embraced, and the Italian Prime Minister took out a white handkerchief to wipe tears from his eyes.