College students demonstrating their support for Palestinians on campuses across the country are shaking up the political debate on Capitol Hill, pitting Israel’s closest allies in both parties against more liberal Democrats siding with the protesters in accusing the country of orchestrating a genocide in Gaza.
The battle has emerged as a major election-year challenge for President Biden, who is attempting a tricky balancing act between demonstrating strong support for Washington’s closest Middle Eastern ally, particularly in the wake of Hamas’s October terrorist attacks, while simultaneously condemning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for doing too little to protect civilian lives in Gaza.
Those tensions were on display in the Capitol earlier this month during the debate over providing new military aid to Israel — legislation opposed by more than three dozen House Democrats in opposition to Netanyahu’s wartime tactics and wary of being “complicit” as the civilian casualties in Gaza …