ROME (JTA) -- Italy will never recognize a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said.

Berlusconi at a celebration of Israel's 63rd birthday praised the Jewish state as the only democracy in the Middle East. He was the guest of honor Wednesday at an Israeli Independence Day reception hosted by Israeli Ambassador Gideon Meir.

"No, absolutely not," he was quoted as telling reporters when asked whether Italy would recognize a unilaterally declared Palestinian state.

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A Zionist Organization of America mission to Congress lobbied for bills that would move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and cut off assistance to the Palestinian Authority if it declares statehood.

Some 400 delegates met with an array of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate on Thursday.

They lobbied for bills that would remove the presidential waiver from existing legislation mandating the embassy's move from Tel Aviv and that would cut off funding to the Palestinian Authority in case it declares statehood unilaterally.