Israeli President Isaac Herzog will have his work cut out for him when he addresses Congress on Wednesday in a speech seen as an attempt at salvaging the decadeslong bipartisan tradition of staunch support for Israel that in recent years has shown signs of weakening.
Dismayed by the policies of successive governments led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Democrats are increasingly venting frustrations with what they see as antidemocratic and discriminatory actions, including an effort to weaken the country’s judiciary and to dramatically expand settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Republicans, meanwhile, are on alert for moves by the Biden administration to reverse the Trump administration policies that favored normalizing the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.