For Pelosi, Israel is Personal

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency has a story out on assumed Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her views on Israel.

The piece reads:

"She [Pelosi] likes to say that, growing up in Baltimore, she went to a bar or bat mitzvah every Saturday," Amy Friedkin, a former president of AIPAC and a friend of Pelosi's for 25 years, wrote in an e-mail message to JTA.

"I've heard her say numerous times that the single greatest achievement of the 20th century" was the founding of the modern state of Israel," Friedkin wrote. "She has been a great friend of the U.S.-Israel relationship during her entire time in Congress and is deeply committed to strengthening that relationship."

Friedkin noted that there's even a soccer field in the Haifa area of Israel named after Nancy Pelosi's family!

Sam Lauter, another top pro-Israel activist from San Francisco who has known Pelosi for 40 years, had this to say about teh Democratic Leader:

"As far as the Jewish community is concerned, she feels our issues in her soul."

He also told JTA that the Pelosis used to attend the first night of the Passover seder at his parents' house.

On domestic issues, UJC's William Daroff - himself a Republican (according to JTA)- notes that Nancy Pelosi is right in line with the Jewish community.

William Daroff, vice president for public policy for the United Jewish Communities, the federation system's umbrella group and a Republican himself, said the lawmaker has helped ensure federal funding of Jewish family service agencies and Jewish hospitals and has supported government programs and policies that Jewish organizations value, such as Medicare and Medicaid.

JTA also quotes a speech that Pelosi gave before an AIPAC crowd three years ago.  Talking about her grandchildren and Jewish son-in-law, Pelosi told the crowd:

"Last week I celebrated by birthday and my grandchildren - ages 4 and 6 - called to sing 'Happy Birthday.' And the surprise, the real gift, was that they sang it in Hebrew."

Pro-Israel, great on Jewish domestic issues, attends Passover seders and her grandchildren sing Happy Birthday to her in Hebrew.  Talk about a perfect Speaker of the House for the Jewish community.