Yesterday Yahoo.com posted a Christian Science Monitor article about the reception that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received from the United States Congress yesterday.  The article credits at least some of the warm reception the Prime Minister received on the influence of the pro-Israel lobby, long one of the most effective on Capitol Hill.  I am willing to acknowledge that the pro-Israel lobby is effective, but I think the reception given to Prime Minister Netanyahu also has to do with Americans’ sense of fair play.  I just don’t think a lot of Americans like the idea of an American President telling another country what its borders should be.

Today’s UK Telegraph had an interesting perspective on the speech:

“Right from the get go, with his “you got bin Laden” line, Netanyahu offered red meat to Congress as well as making enough noises about wanting to achieve peace and being ready to make “painful compromises” to persuade most Americans that he is not the roadblock in the Middle East.

“Of course, the speech won’t be seen that way in Britain. One of the most striking differences between the UK and the US is in how Israel and the Palestinians are viewed. I dare say that if Netanyahu had told the House of Commons that Hamas was the “Palestinian al-Qaeda” there would have been a fair few boos.”

It is interesting to me that the writer of the UK Telegraph piece does not believe that the British see Hamas as a terrorist organization. 

To me, the most important thing that the Prime Minister said was reported in the article at Yahoo.com:

“He called on Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to tear up his pact with Hamas, stand before his people, and say, “I will accept a Jewish state.”

“”Those six words will change history,” Netanyahu said. “They’ll make it clear to the Palestinians that this conflict must come to an end – that they’re not building a Palestinian state to continue the conflict with Israel but to end it.””

I truly do not understand how Israel can make peace with any nation or group of people who want to destroy it.  I think that is the reason Congress supported what the Prime Minister said–even Congress has a sense of fair play.