Democrats on Capitol Hill can’t catch a break.

Just as Sen. Alex Padilla’s (D-Calif.) physical clash with Trump administration security officials had given them cause to unite on the otherwise divisive issue of immigration, Israel’s attack on Iran has shifted the national gaze onto yet another radioactive topic that has long split the party.

While many Democrats quickly condemned conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for launching Israel’s assault on Thursday night, many others hailed the decision as a necessary step to put a halt to Tehran’s nuclear expansion.

The disagreement is an unwelcome one for Democratic leaders, who had rallied forcefully behind Padilla on Thursday afternoon and were hoping to take that unified front into the weekend, when President Trump is staging an elaborate military parade, and then into next week’s holiday, when the House is on a long recess and lawmakers will be back in their districts to confront voters.

Instead, Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program — a mere coincidence of timing — has dragged Democrats back into the quarrelsome discussion over Netanyahu’s aggressive military strategy, which has already been a topic of internal strife amid Israel’s demolition of Gaza in search of the Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

On one side of that debate are Israel’s closest congressional allies, who quickly cheered Netanyahu’s preemptive attacks as an imperative effort to make the region, and the world, a safer place.

“The October 7 attacks showed that Israel can leave nothing to chance — the threats they face are real, and inaction can cost lives,” Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), a former head of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in a statement. “The strikes that began last night in........

© The Hill