For weeks, those trapped within the Beltway echo chamber have reassured themselves that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to accept an invitation from congressional Republicans to address a joint session of the federal legislature was a significant strategic blunder of the first order.

They insisted that Netanyahu’s determination to take advantage of a GOP offer made without consulting the president would only further isolate the Israeli prime minister, politicize the Israeli-American relationship, and create a controversy in Israel that could result in a backlash against the prime minister and his party ahead of an upcoming general election. These were always more assertions of faith than examples of objective political analysis. The commentary class might have hoped that providence would punish Netanyahu for this brazen display of defiance in opposition to the president’s preferences, but the fates’ wrath has not yet materialized.

Ahead of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Tuesday, Gallup found the Israeli Prime Minister’s popularity rating in the United States was nearing an all-time high. 45 percent of the public views Netanyahu positively compared to just 24 percent of the public who views the Israeli leader unfavorably. That’s a 10-point increase from just 2012 when 35 percent of American survey respondents viewed Netanyahu positively and 23 percent had a negative opinion about the Israeli prime minister.

While Netanyahu’s favorable score has varied slightly over the years, his unfavorable score has been relatively stable, ranging from 20% to 28%. Notably, even while his favorable score increased since 2012, his unfavorable score stayed about the same. Meanwhile, fewer Americans have no opinion of Netanyahu today than did so in 2012, with 31% vs. 41%, respectively, either saying they are unsure or have never heard of him.

The survey found that six in ten Republicans are predisposed to view Netanyahu favorably and self-described independents are more likely to align with Republicans in their view of the Israeli leader. Democrats, however, are split. 31 percent have a favorable opinion of the prime minister and another 31 percent have an unfavorable view.

By contrast, Barack Obama’s favorability rating with the American public is largely equal to Netanyahu’s. The most recent Economist/YouGov poll finds 45 percent of the American public views Obama’ favorably while 50 percent view him unfavorably. Gallup, meanwhile, pegs Obama’s favorability rating at 51 percent – the highest it has been in that survey in months and a dramatic rebound from his 42 percent rating in November of last year – while 48 percent have a negative opinion of the president. Only 44 percent, however, have a favorable view of the job Obama has done in office according to Gallup’s rolling three-day polling average.

Given these conditions, it has become increasingly clear that Obama is forcing his fellow Democrats into a trap. The White House tacitly invited a Democratic boycott of Netanyahu’s address to Congress by refusing to make the president, the vice president, or any high-level Cabinet official available to him during his visit. The president has not urged his fellow Democrats to avoid boycotting Netanyahu, and an ever-increasing number of Democratic officeholders have revealed their intention to engage in a display of fealty to Obama and his wounded ego by disrespecting Netanyahu.

Perhaps these Democrats are emboldened to walk out on Netanyahu by polls, like a recent NBC News/Marist survey, which show a plurality of Americans think it was bad form for Republicans to invite Netanyahu to speak, as is their privilege, without first consulting with the White House. But even that survey, which also found Israel and Netanyahu are generally viewed positively by a plurality of Americans, suggests that this “controversy” will not have long-lasting implications and the ramifications associated with Netanyahu’s speech will be short lived.

The New York Times warned on Monday that a tipping point in Israeli-American relations had been reached. The piece warned that Democrats who are shunning Netanyahu are the vanguard of a larger movement that could threaten Israel’s position as a preferred U.S. ally.

So far, 30 Democrats — four senators and 26 representatives — have said they will not attend the speech. Nearly half are African-Americans, who say they feel deeply that Mr. Netanyahu is disrespecting the president by challenging his foreign policy. But a half-dozen of those Democrats planning to stay away are Jewish, and represent 21 percent of Congress’s Jewish members.

It is just as logical to read this paragraph and conclude that the anti-Netanyahu movement on the far-left is an ideologically homogenous one. When taken in consideration with public polling, it is clear that the boycott movement represents a fraction of a fraction of the Democratic Party and is utterly unrepresentative of the American people.

What’s more, the public polling on Israel contrast sharply with a Gallup survey that discovered that only 11 percent of the American public has a favorable opinion of the Islamic Republic of Iran. 84 percent of the public has an unfavorable opinion of the Islamic Republic, results that call into question the administration’s ability to sell a nuclear accord to the American public. As the administration works tirelessly toward securing a deal, any deal, with Iran that would forestall its ability to construct a nuclear weapon, White House officials cannot be encouraged by these numbers.

Democrats have been put in an awkward position by this administration’s naked hostility toward the Israeli leader. Last week, Harvard University Law Professor Alan Dershowitz, a committed Democrat, warned his fellow party members in Congress to avoid making support for Israel a partisan issue. For most Americans, it isn’t. Between Benjamin Netanyahu and Barack Obama, the president is in the most danger of alienating the American people.