A pro-Israel demonstration was held in Rome Thursday following recent statements made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying Israel “should be wiped off the map.”

Approximately 15,000 people participated in the rally, which was accompanied with chants of "viva Israel! viva freedom!" the website of the Italian newspaper La Republica reported. The rally was concluded with the singing of the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah."

Protesters included right and left-wing politicians, local celebrities and Walter Veltroni, the mayor of Rome...

ROME - Italy's foreign minister said the international community must help guarantee Israel's security and condemned Iran's president for saying the Jewish state should be "wiped off the map," according to a newspaper interview published Saturday.

Gianfranco Fini also was quoted as saying that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad merely said what many others think "but have not always dared speak with such brutality."

"Not recognizing Israel's right to exist is an incentive for terrorism because the moment you don't recognize a state's right to exist you don't recognize a people's right to exist," Fini was quoted as saying by Milan daily Corriere della Sera.

"Ahmadinejad's words help those who are working to make sure the Middle East never stabilizes, and fuels ... the fire that fuels terrorism...