The airstrikes on Iran are a remarkable display of firepower, but the really eye-raising belligerence is coming from the Democrats criticizing Israel’s attack. One could be forgiven for thinking that vitriol of this stripe was sourced to officials based at Tehran, not from the capital of Israel’s staunchest ally. “Israel’s alarming decision to launch airstrikes on Iran is a reckless escalation that risks igniting regional violence,” is how Senator Reed put it.

Mr. Reed is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, making him one of the most prominent figures in America’s defense establishment. His colleague Senator Shaheen, the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, is similarly sour on the strikes, decrying them as “an escalation that is deeply concerning and will inevitably invite counterattacks,” and fretting that they might thwart President Trump’s nuclear talks.

Senator Murphy of Connecticut, mooted as a contender for 2028, lobs the accusation on X that Israel’s strikes were “clearly intended to scuttle the Trump Administration’s negotiations with Iran.” He adds that the attempt to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran “risks a regional war that will likely be catastrophic for America and is further evidence of how little respect world powers — including our own allies — have for President Trump.”

So much for the old saw that America’s partisan divide stops at the water’s edge. Instead, top Democrats seem unable to view the events unfolding in the Mideast through any prism save for that of domestic politics. Senator Schiff, still nostalgic for “the previous nuclear agreement with Iran” negotiated by President Obama, laments that the strikes would derail the efforts to renew a deal, which “is now less probable in the wake of this attack.”

In the House, squad members like Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is calling Israel’s strike a “dangerous escalation that could lead to a regional war” and renewed her plea to cut off Israel’s foreign aid. Her colleague, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, grumbled that “everyone in America” should “prepare themselves to either see their tax dollars being spent on weapon supplies to Israel or be dragged into war with Iran if this escalates.”

Senator Kaine gripes that Israel’s attack seems to “torch diplomacy” by spoiling the American talks over Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Senator Markey echoes these concerns by decrying Mr. Trump’s “historic mistake,” as he puts it, of jettisoning the Obama-era nuclear pact. The world, as a result, in Mr. Markey’s telling, is “reaping the whirlwind,” and he urges more “diplomatic engagement.” With friends like these, who needs enemies? 

Decades of diplomatic engagement, after all, are what led America, Israel, and the West more broadly to this pass, in which the terrorist regime at Tehran was on the brink of becoming a nuclear-armed power. A clearer-eyed appraisal emerged at Jerusalem, cutting through the Gordian Knot of hand-wringing and long-winded negotiations, that military force was required to head off that catastrophic possibility.

Some Democrats seem to grasp the stakes. Senator Fetterman vowed that America’s “commitment to Israel must be absolute,” urging Israel to “keep wiping out Iranian leadership and the nuclear personnel.” A top Democrat on the House foreign affairs committee, Brad Sherman, called Israel’s moves “understandable and justified,” adding that “Israel could not wait until Iran had a stockpile of nuclear weapons ready to be launched.”

It took America’s top elected Democrat, Senator Schumer, until this afternoon to comment on Israel’s airstrikes. “I have been briefed on events in the Middle East,” the senator said. He added that he was praying for the safety of American citizens and servicemembers. “The United States commitment to Israel’s security and defense must be ironclad as they prepare for Iran’s response.” The ranks of Democrats behind him are thinning.