Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday sharply criticized the Biden administration’s policies on Israel, calling them “disgraceful,” seeking to highlight his pro-Israel credentials as he goes head-to-head with former President Donald J. Trump for evangelical voters.
In Washington at the Christians United for Israel Summit, an annual gathering of conservatives with ties to the Israeli right, Mr. DeSantis also vowed never to waver on Israel’s claim to Jerusalem and to strongly oppose the boycott-Israel movement, which he said , that it promotes prejudice. against the Jewish people.
Three Republican presidential candidates, including Mr. DeSantis, were scheduled to appear at the event, which unfolded as President Biden on Monday invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to the White House and was scheduled to meet in Washington later this week with Isaac Herzog. the Israeli president.
“You are free as a person to have whatever views you want,” Mr. DeSantis told the crowd. “But when you come up with a movement that focuses all your anger on the only Jewish state in this world, to the exclusion of all these other things,” he added, “that’s anti-Semitism.”
Mr. DeSantis never mentioned the progressive Democrats who said they would boycott Mr. Herzog’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. But he used his speech to emphasize his strong support for Israel and attack White House policies, as many conservatives sought to portray Democrats who criticize Israel as anti-Zionist or even anti-Semitic.
The moment is uncomfortable for both parties.
Antisemitism has increased in recent years. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate, was invited by House Republicans to testify on Capitol Hill about censorship. He falsely claimed recently that the Covid-19 virus was created to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese, prompting accusations of anti-Semitism and racism.
And top House Democrats rushed to reject comments by Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat, who described Israel as a “racist state” at a progressive conference over the weekend.
In a statement on Sunday, Ms. Jayapal, who heads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, sought to clarify her remarks. “I don’t believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist,” she said. “However, I believe that Netanyahu’s far-right government has engaged in discriminatory and downright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.”
On Monday, Mr. DeSantis, who received loud applause and a standing ovation, rejected a two-state solution establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. And he denounced efforts that he argued used “the economy and business to impose a radical leftist agenda” on Israeli politics.
“They are under siege from terrorism,” Mr. DeSantis said of Israelis. “And yet when they act to defend their own people, you have all these people in the cheap seats criticizing Israel just for having the temerity to defend their own people.”