Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands accused of war crimes, and the popular political consensus within the U.S. and Israel suggests he is thwarting an attempted ceasefire in the horrifying war on Gaza for his own personal gain. But he received a hero’s welcome this week from the U.S. Republicans who are eager to stoke divisions among Democrats and animate evangelical voters during an election year.

Thousands gathered at the capitol for protests as Netanyahu prepared to address a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, including Palestinian activists and Israelis frustrated with Netanyahu’s failure to end the war and bring the remaining hostages home. House Speaker Mike Johnson joined Netanyahu for a press conference to reiterate U.S. support for Israel after previously warning that any Democrats or activists who attempt to disrupt the prime minister’s speech would be arrested.

“Our dear ally Israel is in an existential fight for its very existence, and that fight extends to every one of its borders,” Johnson said.

The sheer scope of the human suffering caused by Israel’s occupation of Palestine has come into focus in the United States after months of mass violence, famine and displacement. Now, unconditional U.S. support for Netanyahu’s ruling coalition in Israel is increasingly a partisan cause, and in some wings of the Republican party, fueled by Biblical prophecy and far right politics.

Netanyahu is isolated and even shunned on the international stage, but Johnson negotiated the address to both houses of Congress back in May. Netanyahu’s presence on U.S. soil was supposed to provide the GOP with an opportunity to leverage Israel’s war effort as a wedge issue thought to divide Democrats and confound President Joe Biden. However, Democrats are more skeptical of Netanyahu today than they were months ago, and public perceptions of Israeli policy have shifted in recent years as a younger generation of Jewish Americans came to view Israel as an apartheid state.

Support for Netanyahu also positions Republicans against international institutions loathed on the right. In a historic ruling on Friday, the International Court of Justice found Israel responsible for apartheid conditions in occupied Palestinian territory, a charge levelled by Palestinians and human rights groups for years. In a separate action, international prosecutor Karim Khan announced in May that he is seeking arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, as well as three Hamas officials, over........

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