On the eve of Prime Minister Sharon’s arrival in Washington to meet with President Bush, a remarkable thing happened. The number three Republican in the House, Tom DeLay of Texas, went to the well and gave a stunningly pro-Israel speech, on the occasion of sending a resolution in support of Israel to the House floor, that was memorable for its moral clarity. “There is no moral equivalence between a democratic government defending its citizens and a calculated strategy of death waged by terrorist organizations,” Mr. DeLay said. “Let every terrorist know, the American people will never abandon freedom, democracy, or Israel.”

Mr. DeLay may have bowed in recent weeks to the President’s request that his pro-Israel resolution not be brought to a vote, but with Israeli military operations winding down this week, and with the lifting of the siege of Yasser Arafat’s Ramallah compound, yesterday presented an appropriate opportunity for Mr. DeLay to send the president a message as to where lies the heart of the Republican Party and, we’ve little doubt, most of the country. Mr. DeLay’s resolution, co-sponsored by California Democrat Tom Lantos, called things as they are, naming Mr. Arafat, and citing his “ongoing support of terror.” The Senate passed its own resolution. Both passed with overwhelming majorities.

This puts us in a mind to recall a mistake that was made by an earlier prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who, in frustration over the Clinton administration’s penchant for pressuring Israel, took his case directly to the Speaker of the House at the time, Newt Gingrich. He got a rousing, thundering welcome on the Hill, as well he should have, but he earned the lasting enmity of the president, who under Article II of the Constitution is given the power to conduct America’s foreign policy.

Mr. Sharon is no doubt wise enough to avoid this kind of mistake. And the situation is different today, since the president’s own party controls the House. Which means, among other things, that the opportunity for error here lies not just with Mr. Sharon, but with Mr. Bush as well. The legislative leaders of his party are not neutral in the war between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. Mr. Bush gained immeasurably in stature because of his leadership after September 11. What Americans saw in him was a man who knew right from wrong. If he fails to assert those values in the Middle East, there will be trouble on the Hill.