WASHINGTON, April 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Tens of thousands of people, many of whom traveled from around the United States, rallied Monday in support of Israel, which two weeks ago launched a major military offensive against the Palestinians.

With its slogan "We stand by Israel," the "National Solidarity Rally for Israel" - the first since the Israeli offensive began March 29 - brought the message to the steps of the Capitol Building, home to the U.S. Congress, to stand with Israel at a time when hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government's military actions in the West Bank have been denounced in Europe.

U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, the second-ranking official at the Pentagon, told the crowd that U.S. President George W. Bush, who has urged Israel to withdraw from Palestinian towns its army has occupied, "wants you to know that he stands in solidarity with you.”

Wolfowitz was, however, interrupted and booed when he told those gathered that Palestinians, as well as Israelis, have been victims of Mideast violence.

His words were interrupted by cries of "No more Arafat," and booed as he told the crowd that "innocent Palestinians are suffering and dying as well. It is critical that we recognize and acknowledge that fact."

News agencies reported that many at the rally showed little sympathy with Wolfowitz's message that the majority of Palestinians also want an end to violence and that "hard decisions must be made by both sides to achieve a lasting peace." He was forced to stop speaking several times to wait for the crowd to quiet down.

Though there were no official crowd estimates, organizers said earlier that some 20,000 people were expected at the event.

"We want to show the people of Israel that we stand with them at this difficult time when so many have been victims of terrorist outrages, including scores of suicide bombings and attacks, which in the month of March alone took more than 100 lives," said publisher Mortimer Zuckerman, executive director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, speaking before the event.

At the pro-Israeli rally, however, no mention was made of the overwhelming disparity of Palestinian deaths since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, quickly approaching 2,000.

The pro-Israeli rally, however, was met with unorganized opposition as a knot of pro-Palestinian demonstrators appeared on the fringe of the rally crowd, holding signs, which prompted pro-Israelis to yell, "Get out of here! Get out of here!" Others accosted the small band as well. Police intervened, and ushered the pro-Palestinian marchers to one side, reports the Washington Post.

Speakers included former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, harping the Israeli position in the United States, Israeli Housing Minister Natan Sharansky, Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, New York Gov. George Pataki and many U.S. Jewish leaders.

Netanyahu, a hard-liner seen as a prospective challenger for the premiership in elections next year, declared: " Israel and the United States are today fighting the same battle, waging the same war, confronting the same evil."

To huge cheers, he added: "Like the United States , Israel did not seek this war. It was forced on us by a savage enemy that glorifies in a culture of death, a culture where murderers are called martyrs and suicide is sanctified."

"Arafat does not want a Palestinian state next to Israel ; he wants a Palestinian state instead of Israel ." Americans know, he said, that "Yasser Arafat is nothing more than Osama bin Laden with good P.R."

In addition, lawmakers in Congress have been voicing doubts about the Bush administration's Mideast policy and the president's refusal to class Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat as a terrorist.

These lawmakers form a powerful coalition with Jewish legislators, lawmakers from states with large Jewish communities such as New York and California , and members of the conservative Christian right.

House Democratic leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri said, "We will stand with Israel , we will stand for freedom."

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada , the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, said, "We can't expect Israel to stand idle while its citizens are being slaughtered.

The rally comes as the United States moves to boost its profile in trying to mediate to achieve a ceasefire in the Middle East . Bush, meanwhile, has called on Sharon to pull his troops out of occupied Palestinian towns.

Sam and Tirza Kahan, who arrived early Monday morning Chicago , said that for the United States , which is waging a war in Afghanistan , and Israel , "it's the same fight [against terrorism], it has just a different face."

"We think Israel is fighting terrorism and that the world and, in particular the U.S. government, is not acknowledging the fight that Israel is doing," added Shelley Edward Stopek, another Chicago native. "We're here in support of Israel , they are doing the right thing."

"Words don't work here," said Len Sausen, 56, a businessman, who said he arrived on one of three dozens buses from Elizabeth, N.J. to the Post, saying he was "overjoyed" with Sharon's decision to get tough. "I think he should be tougher," he said.

Continuing a theme espoused by Jews in the U.S. equating the September 11 attacks with the resistance movement in Palestine , Malcolm Hoenlein, a rally organizer, said, "We as Americans, after September 11th, understand better today what Israel is going through. People are coming here, literally from every segment of American life to show their solidarity for Israel ."

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, said in remarks prepared for the rally, that the "The United States and Israel stand shoulder to shoulder in the war on terrorism. We both have suffered terrible losses, and we have both decided to fight those who dare to attack our people."

Sharon announced Sunday having proposed during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell holding a Middle East conference involving a Palestinian delegation, but without Arafat.

The conference sponsored by the United States would group Israeli and Palestinian representatives as well as Egyptian, Jordanian, Moroccan, Saudi and other Gulf Arab delegates.

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the United Jewish Communities sponsored the rally.

The Post reports the rally follows several demonstrations for and against Israel in the past two weeks. On Friday, about 50 students, professors and others protested at Georgetown University , where three young Israelis were giving a talk. The demonstrators waved signs, chanted, "Free, free Palestine !" and denounced U.S. support for Israel . Protesters posing as Israeli soldiers "attacked" students representing Palestinians, the paper reported.

Larger pro-Palestinian demonstrations are expected Saturday through April 22, including a “Stop Bush/Sharon War on Palestine ” rally on April 20, expected to draw tens of thousands of protestors.

The pro-Israeli Monday rally took place as Israel continued invasions into Palestinian territories on the West Bank , reports CNN.