Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Monday sharply criticized the Biden administration’s insurance policies on Israel, calling them “disgraceful,” looking for to focus on his pro-Israel credentials as he goes head-to-head with former President Donald J. Trump for evangelical voters.

In Washington on the Christians United for Israel Summit, an annual gathering of conservatives with ties to the Israeli proper wing, Mr. DeSantis additionally vowed to by no means waver on Israel’s declare to Jerusalem and to forcefully oppose the boycott-Israel motion that he mentioned promoted prejudice towards Jewish folks.

Three Republican presidential candidates, together with Mr. DeSantis, appeared on the occasion, which unfolded as President Biden on Monday invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to the White House and was set to fulfill in Washington later this week with Isaac Herzog, the Israeli president. The Netanyahu authorities has lengthy cultivated its ties with evangelical Christians, whose beliefs that Israel is particular to God has led many to carry hawkish views in assist of the Jewish state.

“You’re free as a person to have whatever views you want,” Mr. DeSantis instructed the gang. “But when you concoct a movement that focuses all of your ire at the only Jewish state in this world, at the exclusion of all these other things,” he added, “that is antisemitism.”

Mr. DeSantis by no means as soon as talked about the progressive Democrats who’ve mentioned they may boycott a speech by Mr. Herzog to a joint session of Congress on Wednesday. But he used his speech to emphasise his sturdy assist for Israel and assault White House insurance policies, as many conservatives have sought to painting Democrats who criticize Israel as anti-Zionist and even antisemitic.

His Republican presidential rivals who additionally spoke on the occasion — Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and a United Nations ambassador within the Trump administration, and former Vice President Mike Pence — took direct purpose on the progressive Democratic congresswomen who’ve pushed for a shift in fascinated about the Mideast battle, focusing the controversy on human rights.

Ms. Haley attacked Mr. Biden over how lengthy it took to increase a White House invitation to Mr. Netanyahu after he re-entered workplace in December. In callbacks to the general public fights between Mr. Trump and the “Squad,” she singled out Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, who’s planning to skip the Herzog speech, and mentioned “the Democratic Party is the definition of extreme.” She added, “It’s time to censure the Squad and get antisemitism out of America for good.”

Antisemitism has been on the rise in recent times. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a long-shot Democratic presidential candidate who has been invited by House Republicans to testify on Capitol Hill on censorship, falsely claimed lately that the Covid-19 virus was engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese folks, prompting accusations of antisemitism and racism.

And high House Democrats have been dashing to reject feedback from Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat who described Israel as “a racist state” at a progressive convention over the weekend.

In a statement on Sunday, Ms. Jayapal, who heads the Congressional Progressive Caucus, sought to make clear her remarks. “I do not believe the idea of Israel as a nation is racist,” she mentioned. “I do, however, believe that Netanyahu’s extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminatory and outright racist policies and that there are extreme racists driving that policy within the leadership of the current government.”

On Monday on the summit in Washington, Mr. Pence criticized Ms. Jayapal, Representative Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota for utilizing what he described as “antisemitic tropes” and “antisemitic remarks.”

“The words by these congresswomen are a disgrace,” Mr. Pence mentioned, including that “they are beneath the dignity of the relationship” between the United States and Israel. “President Biden and every Democrat member of Congress should denounce them and denounce them today.”

Ms. Omar in 2019 apologized for implying that American assist for Israel was fueled by cash from a pro-Israel lobbying group, remarks that drew swift condemnation from fellow Democrats, together with Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Ms. Tlaib, the primary Palestinian American lady elected to Congress, has additionally confronted criticism from Republicans and pro-Israel Democrats for calling Israel an “apartheid regime.”

Coming out in assist of Ms. Jayapal on Monday, Ms. Tlaib mentioned, “The Israeli government is committing the crime of apartheid.”

“Apartheid is a racist system of oppression,” she added.

On Monday, Mr. DeSantis, who acquired loud applause and a standing ovation, rejected a two-state answer establishing an unbiased Palestinian state alongside Israel that has been on the foundation of peace talks for many years however has proved difficult to achieve. And he denounced efforts that he argued used “the economy and business to impose a radical left-wing agenda” on Israeli coverage.

“The way they treat a strong ally like Prime Minister Netanyahu,” he mentioned of the Biden administration, “what they’re trying to do to shoehorn Israel into bad policies has been disgraceful.”