Berman added:

"I can't tell you how much time I've spent in my office poring over maps with the knowledgeable and articulate policy director for APN in Washington, Lara Friedman."

This personal acknowledgement is important to me. I've worked for more than a decade to press APN's agenda on Capitol Hill, to help them understand the issues at stake for Israel and for America, and to guide them to speak out in constructive ways.

This is why I think that Berman's repeated statements about the need for peace were so important. Among his comments, he said:

"Throughout my nearly three decades in Congress, and now as Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, I have been preoccupied with issues involving Israel's security and Middle East peace. I made my first trip to Israel as a Congressman in 1983.  It was then that I first began to discern the primary problem Israel would have to face if it maintained its hold on the West Bank and Gaza: Either it would eventually have to rule over a disenfranchised Palestinian majority, or - if it enfranchised the Palestinians -- Israel would eventually cease to be Jewish.  Call it the 'democracy/demography' problem. I knew I wanted Israel, as a Jewish homeland, to be a democracy.

"That was 1983. I wasn't yet convinced that the answer was Palestinian statehood.  But over the years, as I made many more trips to Israel and the region, I discovered two things.  First, I learned that there were, indeed, many Palestinians who were prepared to accept Israel and who genuinely believed in co-existence. Second, I discovered the immense toll the occupation was taking on Israel...  Like you, I believe that a final resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will require robust U.S. engagement in the Middle East peace process."

It is significant when any member of Congress speaks forthrightly about the need to push ahead for peace. It is all-the-more significant when that Congressman happens to be the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee. I'm flattered that he chose APN as the venue to make these remarks.

I'm also flattered by some of the praise that Berman offered for APN:

"Unlike some on the left, who come to their positions because they do not really care about Israel's survival and security, APN comes to its positions because it does care."

Berman concluded by saying:
 

"I look forward to continuing my close relationship with APN, both when in agreement and otherwise. For many years now, APN has been an informative and creative partner in Middle East policy debates. I will continue to be intimately involved with you in that discussion, fully assured that our main objectives - a secure Israel, an independent Palestine, and a peaceful Middle East - remain the same."

By the way, Berman was not the only senior Congressman to talk about APN's leadership. Rep. Henry Waxman sent a video in which he praised APN supporter Irwin Levin:

"It is surely the resolve of activists like Irwin that has helped give APN such a firm imprint on U.S. engagement in the peace process."

Waxman is 100% right. When I walk into the offices of members of Congress like Berman and Waxman, they know that I am there carrying a message from tens of thousands of people across America who care about Israel and care about peace.