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<\/a><\/p>\nU.S. Representative Steny Hoyer speaking during the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference in Washington, DC on March 24, 2019. (Michael Brochstein\/SOPA Images\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cI did not want to be one of those members who clearly stayed, outstayed his or her ability to do the job,\u201d Hoyer, 86, told the Washington Post ahead of his announcement on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Hoyer, who has served in Congress since 1981 and stepped down as House majority leader in 2022, frequently made pro-Israel advocacy a hallmark of his tenure, including backing unconditional U.S. aid to Israel and supporting the recognition of Jerusalem as the country\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n
Hoyer\u2019s departure deprives Congress of a pro-Israel stalwart at a time when support for Israel is on the decline in both major parties. Already, a Jewish Democrat who is harshly critical of Israel had been challenging him.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur country, the Democratic Party, and the pro-Israel movement are all in a better place today because of his service,\u201d Brian Romick, the president and CEO of the Democratic Majority for Israel, said in a statement. \u201cI will be forever grateful for his guidance, his friendship, and his faith in me. I am certain that future Democratic leaders will look to his career as a model and be inspired to embrace his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoyer addressed changes in support for Israel in November 2024, when he celebrated after a proposal to restrict the sale of U.S.-made weapons to Israel was voted down.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is vital that we maintain Congress\u2019 overwhelming bipartisan consensus supporting Israel. Israelis and Americans \u2013 and Democrats and Republicans \u2013 must continue to stand together as we navigate the most crucial period in the 76-year history of our U.S.-Israel relationship,\u201d said Hoyer in a press release at the time.<\/p>\n
Hoyer has also long been the unofficial leader of an annual tour of Democratic freshmen lawmakers to Israel with AIPAC. This year, Hoyer said in a video posted by AIPAC that he had been to Israel \u201c22 times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cContrary to world opinion, Israel has been doing everything it possibly can to ensure that there\u2019s minimal damage to civilians who are not part of Hamas\u2019 army,\u201d said Hoyer in the video. \u201cUnfortunately, the world is not seeing that, and one of the things I\u2019ve tried to tell the leadership in Israel, please get that message out, please expose it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hoyer\u2019s trip to Israel was criticized by the only candidate who has already declared for his seat, Harry Jarin, who wrote in a statement at the time that Hoyer \u201cknows what he is doing is wrong and unpopular, so he is deliberately hiding information about this trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Donald Trump dismantles democracy here at home, Democrats lose all credibility by continuing to engage with an equally illiberal and self-destructive regime in Israel,\u201d Jarin wrote at the time. \u201cYou cannot claim to defend democracy in one breath and embrace an authoritarian partner in the next.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jarin responded to Hoyer\u2019s retirement announcement by saying that Hoyer had once represented Marylanders well. \u201cHis service deserves respect, and I acknowledge the role he played in shaping an earlier era of the Democratic Party,\u201d he said in a statement, while also saying, while citing his outlook as the grandson of Holocaust survivors, that a new approach is needed to contending with the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
Hoyer\u2019s retirement comes as several other prominent backers of Israel have also announced their retirements from Congress ahead of the midterm elections.<\/p>\n
Texas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who has close ties with AIPAC, announced he would not seek re-election in September. Democratic Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky, who is Jewish and closely affiliated with the liberal Israel lobby J Street, announced her retirement in May. Another pro-Israel Democrat in Illinois, Sen. Dick Durbin, announced in April that he would not seek a sixth term.<\/p>\n
Amid the wave of retirements, several lawmakers and candidates have recently pledged not to take donations from AIPAC, as discontent with the longstanding U.S.-Israel alliance has grown significantly across the Democratic and Republican parties. Among Republicans, growing anti-Israel sentiment and the mainstreaming of fringe antisemitic voices has sparked outcry from top GOP leaders.<\/p>\n
In Schakowsky\u2019s district, the race for her seat currently includes leftist Palestinian-American influencer Kat Abugazelah, who praised Schakowsky for her stance on Palestinian rights, and Daniel Biss, the progressive Jewish mayor of Evanston, Illinois.<\/p>\n