President Bush, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and many other Republicans have certainly been reliable friends of Israel. But they have been no better friends than the great majority of Democratic leaders - including former president Bill Clinton, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi - all of whom are unwavering supporters of the Jewish state.

Democrats have a long and proud tradition of supporting Israel. It was a Democratic president, Harry Truman, who recognized Israel just minutes after David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the founding of the Jewish state.

When Democrats controlled Congress, we passed legislation prohibiting American contact with the Palestine Liberation Organization until it recognized Israel's right to exist, approved massive increases in aid for Israel, blocked certain arms sales to Israel's enemies in the Middle East and took other steps to enhance Israel's security.

As members of the minority, Democrats have played an integral role in legislative efforts to cut off funding for Hamas and stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Both of those legislative efforts have, unfortunately, been blocked by the Bush administration.

I'm not even going to make the case - and there is a strong case to be made - that a number of Bush administration actions and blunders in the international sphere have hurt America's credibility and have therefore weakened America's effectiveness in its support for Israel.

The Republican Jewish Coalition chose to feature former president Jimmy Carter in its political ads, but notwithstanding his comments to the contrary, he is an outlier on this issue and does not represent the mainstream of Democrats. Even more ludicrous is the notion that Cindy Sheehan speaks for any meaningful number of Democrats on the subject of Israel. If Democrats wanted to sink to the Republican Jewish Coalition's level, we could just as easily trot out statements made by a number of prominent Republicans and claim that the GOP is therefore hostile to Israel.

In the increasingly polarized American political system, support for Israel is one of the few issues that remains truly bipartisan. This gives Israel confidence that no matter which party occupies the White House or controls the House and Senate, the United States will always be committed to Israel's security and right to exist free from terrorism. The Republican Jewish Coalition is making a conscious effort to destroy that bipartisan consensus in the pursuit of illusory short-term political gains. But it is not acting on behalf of Israel when it sets one party against the other. This cheap ploy will inject uncertainty into the American-Israeli relationship - and ultimately make Israel less secure.

If Republican leaders really care about Israel's wellbeing, then they should renounce the Republican Jewish Coalition's dangerous campaign and devote their energies to strengthening the longstanding bipartisan consensus on supporting Israel.

Rep. Howard Berman, a California Democrat, is a member of the House International Relations Committee.

The Senate is due to consider the act, sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), before Congress breaks Friday for midterm elections.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which led lobbying for the act, praised its passage.

"The passage of IFSA is an important step in further isolating the radical regime in Tehran, and represents a unified American commitment from both the administration and Congress toward ensuring that Iran does not obtain the world's most dangerous weapons," AIPAC said in a statement.

The bill, passed Tuesday night, establishes an office in the Homeland Security Department that would foster legal and research cooperation with Israel, Britain, Australia, Singapore and Canada.

The office will be funded at $25 million a year for three years.

The Promoting Antiterrorism Capabilities Through International Cooperation Act now goes to the U.S. Senate.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbied for the bill, said its passage would allow the United States "to leverage the anti-terrorism expertise of our leading allies in the global war against terror.

It provides a framework for expanded homeland security collaboration and creates increased opportunities for the United States and Israel to work together to address the common terrorist threat."

Implemented in 2004 with the European Commission contributing $25 million, the project's end goal is to develop a system that will be able to prevent airplane hijackings through an ambitious security program to combat on-board threats.

"The starting point of the project is the assumption that ground security has failed, and there's an in flight perpetrator - it could be a terrorist with a weapon, a bomb or bomber or a hijacker. They're up there and the question is, what do we do about it," Laviv told ISRAEL21c.

Since Sept. 11, the idea that civilian planes can be used as weapons by hijackers has become a real threat, and the SAFEE project has taken the reins of international efforts to fight that threat. In attempting to build a last barrier against attacks on planes, the project is working on a number of features that would be part of a 'non-hijackable' plane: computer systems designed to spot suspicious passenger behavior, and a collision avoidance system that will correct the plane's trajectory to prevent it from being steered into a building or mountain.

But SAFEE - and Athena GS3- are not just about technology. According to Laviv, security relies on much more than a good system.

"Airplane security since 9/ 11 has changed radically. Before 9/11 the budget for security was very limited, now especially in the US, there's no limit, but it's not necessarily invested in the right places. Our concern is that almost all of the security budgets go to technology. Security is built on three cornerstones: technology, procedure and protocol, and human resources and training," he explained.

"When you put all your eggs in the one basket of technology, you don't have a security system, and that's unfortunately the situation today. It's evident at Heathrow. If the British hadn't stopped the plot at that stage, the technology wouldn't have been able to stop them at the airport. What the terrorists planned to do there would not have worked at Ben-Gurion, due to the different security considerations. Technology is wonderful, but you need an overall system," Laviv added.

While Athena is dwarfed in name recognition by its partners in the SAFEE project - including aircraft maker Airbus, its parents EADS and BAE Systems, as well as Thales and Siemens AG - the 10-year-old company's expertise and influence is the fuel that's driving it ahead. ATHENA GS3's client roster consists of notable Global 100 companies, governments and public organizations including: the EU, Microsoft, Northwest Airlines, Pittsburgh International Airport, MWAA, Exelon Generation and many others.

"You could say that we're security concept designers. As an analogy, let's use this comparison. If someone is buying a home and they want to redesign the interior, the first thing they'll do is to take on an architect or interior designer. They design the concept and only after that is a contractor or an integrator hired to actually implement the designs and do the job," said Laviv.

"We're not only security concept designers but also security integrators. But we'll almost never take on the integration if we didn't have input into the planning. For most of our clients, it works out that we do the design work, and if possible the integration as well. Doing both enables a better job in the end."

"As concept designers, we've played a major role in designing the system whose motto is 'zero hijacking policy.' What we've planned is a system that will be able to give early warning of an actual terror event in flight and provide the means to prevent it."

Founded by Shabtai Shavit, the former head of the Israeli Mossad (1989-1996) and a leading authority on homeland security, intelligence gathering and counter terrorism issues, ATHENA GS3 has assembled a team of top international security experts from the Israeli Security Services, El Al Airlines and the Israeli Navy, along with leaders from the public sector and private industry, who focus on the core areas of security and crime fighting.

Careful not to divulge any information which might compromise the identity of a client, Omer describes an actual customer.

"In a certain country, there was a very high percentage of a certain kind of crime, and the country couldn't deal with the problem using their own police squad because they suspected the criminals were getting inside information from the police. The government approached us for a plan ? what we did was to establish a totally new unit within the local police that would report directly to the internal security minister of the government.

"We provided this unit with the system and training to gather intelligence and the tools to handle crisis situations. They came to Israel for six months, learned about intelligence work and how to understand the background of criminal activity, and how to plan actions to prevent that activity. They went back home and mobilized and the result was a decrease of 60% in six months in that kind of crime in the part of the city where the unit was deployed. Now, as a result of that success, we're preparing the next stage which is doubling the number of officers in the unit," said Laviv with pride.

He added that part of the company's uniqueness is their ability to provide and train personnel.

"We help our clients recruit and train people - we recruit new people from universities or from wherever applicable and train them from scratch. You need to go outside because you don't know who you can trust inside. We have our system tools and a psychologist as part of our team, and they undergo extensive exams and we do background checks. But we're not a manpower company," he said.

Laviv said that Athena joined SAFEE at the very beginning "even before it was authorized by the EU" after being headhunted and offered the position. He credits the company's expertise in security technology consulting as being one of the main factors in the confidence the project has placed in them.

"We have tremendous know-how in current technologies that are evolving in the security area. For some companies, we're constantly monitoring what's happening out there and what new developments there are. We're constantly keeping up with the latest literature, going to expositions which are presenting the front line of technological innovations. Israeli companies come to us because they know we're in a position to recommend them. Being concept designers, we're in that position to recommend certain technologies to solve a client's specific problem," he said.

Laviv often lectures around the world. He has addressed the issue of airport security technologies at an airport security conference in Hong Kong, and in November will be speaking at an Aviation Security Technology Symposium in Washington DC.

Athena's staff is spread out around the globe with the management team in Israel numbering 10, and another 20 employees in Africa and Europe. Laviv said that a good amount of resources are being devoted to the SAFEE project, and that the cooperation and exposure of the multinational partners to Athena's way of thinking has resulted in some unexpected benefits.

"We were accepted into the 'club' very easily, and I think we're appreciated as an Israeli company. And the other companies are making use of our experience to benefit the project. We also used the opportunity to bring delegates to Israel, which under normal circumstance wouldn't have likely happened. About six months ago, we organized a conference here on security aviation and many of our colleagues from the project came here," he said.

With the SAFEE project due to end next year, Laviv is confident that the group will meet its goals of devising a plan to prevent planes from being hijacked.

"The goals of our projects are just for a design, and at the end of the project, there will be a system that's workable. Then, I presume and I hope that it will start a new phase of implementation."

Dozens of Evangelical pastors, parliament members, and leaders from an array of countries gathered at the Knesset in Jerusalem to proclaim their support for the country, during a meeting of the Caucus, which was also attended by Knesset Members from across the political spectrum.

"We see Israelis as our spiritual mothers and fathers. It's an honor for us to be here," Pastor Norman Miller of Australia told Ynetnews. "We love your God, Israel," Miller told the meeting, to a round of warm applause.

"The line between the political and the biblical is disappearing," Josh Reinstein, Director of the Caucus, told the meeting. "Around the world, we see the rise of radical Islam come against our Judeo-Christian values, and we must meet it with a well organized response," Reinstein said. "We formed the Christian Allies Caucus to coordinate cooperate and communicate with our Christian allies around the world... we want to work with you, and we thank you for your support," he told delegates.

Speaking to Ynetnews, Reinstein said that modern events were shaping up to fit well with Torah prophecies. "If you can read the newspaper, than you can read the Torah, because things are coming into place like people have predicted many years before us."

"This isn't just a time to shake hands... this is really the start of a relationship, of a political relationship, and that means an economic relationship, a social cooperation, and that also means political support for the State of Israel," he said.

Addressing concerns voiced by some about an alliance with Evangelical Christianity, Reinstein said: "Of course we have to be vigilant to make sure that we're not working with organizations that are just befriending us to convert us, but what we are doing is finding real friends and creating real relationships, so we can promote each other.

"Evangelical Christians around the world are the greatest friends Israel has. And for us to turn our noses at them because of past transgressions is a ridiculous idea... the relationship between Jews and Christians in the 21st century is going to be the most important issue of our time, I think."

Reinstein said concerns about the Evangelical belief in the second coming of Jesus were unfounded: "We also have our own beliefs. For our purpose, it's completely irrelevant. If you're a Jew and you're concerned about what's going to happen in the Christian faith, you're not really a practicing Jews, because that's something you shouldn't be concerned about."

'We have soldiers for you'

During the lunch-meeting, delegates introduced themselves, declaring their love for Israel. A delegate from Africa said: "We have soldiers in Africa, not just spiritual soldiers, but those who even want to come and fight with you." A Kenyan member of parliament said he would soon run for prime minister in his country, promising that should he win, "the next morning the Kenyan embassy would be moved to Jerusalem."

"The friendship that we receive from you, our Christian friends, has significance far beyond the good feeling it gives to us Israelis," Knesset Member Gilad Eran said. "It is clear proof to us, and to the whole world, and particularly to the terrorists, that Israel is not alone," he said.

"It says in the book of Isaiah that Egypt, Israel, and Syria will worship God together," Tom Hess, an American Evangelical pastor who has lived in Israel for the past 19 years, told the delegates.

"What's beginning to happen in the Middle East is that there are Arab leaders that God's raising up as pillars, that are standing with God's covenant, that are saying the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people," Hess said, introducing a number of Evangelical pastors from east Jerusalem, Egypt, and Turkey, described by Hess as "biblical Syria."

"They are teaching their people in their nations, they are the leaders of their nations, against replacement theology, to stand with God's covenant with the people of Israel and the Land of Israel," Hess said.

Palestinian: Jerusalem belongs to Israel and Jesus

Amir Boutros, and Egyptian Christian, said to warm applause: "I assure you, Members of Knesset, and the government here in Israel, that no one can wipe away Israel. I'm not talking nonsense. It's from my own experience. I've been in the Six Days war, 1967, fighting against Israel.

"And in those days, president Nasser assured to the whole world that he is going to wipe away Israel from the map... thousands of tanks and troops came to the border, and Nasser said that we are going to throw Israel into the Mediterranean Sea. But I tell you people, that the God of Israel is defending Israel."

Boutros said he had a revelation, during which he was ordered by God to love Israel.

Naim Khoury, a Palestinian Christian, said he is "wanted" by Islamic groups, adding: "I believe the land of Israel is going to prosper... the Iranian president cannot touch this land, because it belongs to God's chosen people. And God is going to protect this land, and keep Jerusalem a united city, forever and ever. Because Jerusalem does not belong to Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah, or Syria. It belongs to the State of Israel, and the great king the lord Jesus Christ."

Norman Lamb, chief of staff to the Lib Dem leaders, said: "We will be seeking a meeting between Jenny, Ming Campbell and Tom McNally, our leader in the Lords, at the earliest opportunity to seek an explanation."

'Despicable'

Ms Tonge's outburst comes despite the conference overwhelmingly passing a motion on Wednesday condemning the Israeli military action in Lebanon as "disproportionate".

And it comes after a group of MPs warned this month that anti-Semitism was on the rise.

Jon Benjamin, Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the remarks were of exactly the kind of problem identified by the MPs' report.

"At a time when anti-Semitism is on the increase everyone should be working to develop communal harmony, I find it despicable that she believed it was appropriate to make comments such as these at a major political conference," he said.

Repeating controversy

Ms Tonge was sacked from the Lib Dem front bench in January 2004 after saying she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if she was a Palestinian.

She insisted she was not condoning suicide attacks. Since then she has retired as an MP but entered the House of Lords.

At a conference fringe meeting, she said she stuck by her original remarks.

"I said, and I would repeat it now: if I had had to live through that as a Palestinian over decades and I was being given no hope for the future whatsoever I might have considered being a suicide bomber," she said.

"I condemn terrorism, whether it comes from bomber pilots dropping bombs on Iraq or Afghanistan or Lebanon or whether it's a suicide bomber.

"The suicide bomber is prepared to give his life, the bomber pilot goes home for a beer in the bar afterwards. That is the only difference."

Gavin Stollar, a spokesman for the Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, said: "Jenny Tonge's original support for suicide bombers in Israel got her sacked from the front bench.

"I think her vulgar repetition and rhetoric means that her position within the party needs to be seriously reviewed."

And Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "Jenny Tonge's remarks are based around one of the oldest discredited myths about Jewish people and serve to plant the seeds of racism for others to harvest in justifying acts of anti-Semitism."

'Against Israeli law'

Kurdish politicians will most likely come under pressure to explain what their semi-autonomous government has been up to.

Israeli security experts who spoke to the BBC said they could not have worked inside Kurdistan without the knowledge of the Kurdish authorities.

The news will most probably increase tension between the Kurds and Iraq's Arab population, both Sunnis and Shias, reinforcing fears that the Kurds are pursuing a secessionist agenda.

This would be a serious blow to efforts for national reconciliation at a time when hundreds of Iraqis are killed every month in inter-communal violence.

Iraq's neighbours, too, will be outraged.

Iran and Syria, which have long accused the Kurds of allowing the Israelis to operate on Iraqi territory, will most likely demand an explanation from the government in Baghdad.

The Israeli government says it is conducting an investigation into the BBC report because it is against Israeli law to export military know-how without prior permission.

'Conspiracy evidence'

The BBC report will be like the smoking gun the Arab media has spent years looking for.

Ever since the US-led invasion of Iraq began over three years ago, Arab journalists have been speaking of Israelis operating inside the autonomous region of Kurdistan.

They said this was evidence that toppling Saddam Hussein was only the first chapter in a wider American-Israeli conspiracy to eliminate threats to their strategic interests and re-draw the map of the Middle East.

Syria and Iran, which have common borders with Kurdish areas, are believed to be the primary target.