I have been critical of President Joe Biden on many fronts, but I must give credit where credit is due. Biden deserves praise for his comments on Tuesday regarding the horrific surprise attacks by Hamas against innocent Israelis.

To assess his comments, we must clearly see the tragedy he addressed. As of my writing, the death toll for Israel stands at 1,200, with nearly 3,000 injured. People in Israel continue to uncover tales of utter depravity on the part of the attackers: babies decapitated, women raped, bodies burned.

Biden rightly refused to flinch from calling these acts what they are and pinpointing the ideology underpinning them. He called the attacks “pure, unadulterated evil.” He declared Hamas’s ultimate goal as not to protect Palestinians or to secure them an independent state. Instead, their highest purpose, their guiding goal, consists of exterminating the Jewish people.

Our president committed America to supporting the Israelis in their effort to survive — an effort he pointed out that all nations share. Finally, he asked us to mourn with Israel and with those directly affected here in the United States, including the families of at least 14 American citizens murdered during last weekend’s rampage.

I cannot give similar praise to elements of the Left and even some on the Right who have equivocated about, misdirected from, or outright praised the terrorist attacks. On college campuses especially , we have seen the Left celebrate these attacks. Condemnation of Hamas has been tepid with the real venom, the real blame saved for Israel.

Parts of the Right have not been much better. There perhaps has been more misdirection than praise. Of course, to answer some of them, we should be careful not to fully involve ourselves in another Middle Eastern war. Of course, there are deep and tragic problems occurring in the U.S., too. But that talk puts forward an (in some instances willful) ignorance of the fact that nations can act on multiple priorities at once. It feigns obliviousness to legitimate obligations — moral, political, and more — in supporting Israel’s right to exist.

These attacks also have uncovered even more the burgeoning antisemitism within portions of the Left and, even more sadly, the Right. Some clearly do not argue the way they have out of concerns about oppression or national interests. Instead, they do so because they seem to share one of the oldest, most lasting, and most deadly bigotries in human history: the one against the Jewish people.

We must not coddle, ignore, or excuse such views on grounds of political expedience, whatever our political affiliation. We must condemn and excise from our ranks such thought and even the hint of the actions that will result if this thinking goes unaddressed.

This point matters even more for Christians in America, for those whose faith is not their partisanship, their race, or any other alternative to trust in and obedience to the God of the Bible. We must never forget that God called Abram and gave his promises to the Hebrew people as his chosen people. As Christians, we are the “wild olive shoot” who were “grafted” into the people of God by an unfathomable act of mercy. Jesus and the apostles were Jews, on whom the New Testament Church was built. That antisemitism has proliferated among Christians means some deeply, sinfully misunderstand our own faith.

Biden declared that “our hearts may be broken, but our resolve is clear.” May that continue to be the case for us as Americans. And for those of faith, may we “pray for the peace of Jerusalem! ‘May they be secure who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!’” (Psalm 122:6-7).

Adam Carrington is an associate professor of politics at Hillsdale College.