Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), a pro-Israel stalwart with close ties to the U.S. intelligence community, is quitting Congress.

Harman reportedly is leaving to run the Washington DC- based Woodrow Wilson Center, a preeminent foreign policy think tank.

She is replacing Lee Hamilton, also a prominent former Democratic congressman.

Harman, known for her ties with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, was embroiled in 2009 in the controversy over espionage-related charges against two former staffers.

Intelligence officials leaked to Congressional Quarterly a wiretapped conversation from 2006 that conveyed the impression that she told an Israeli agent she would intervene on behalf of the accused staffers.

Harman fiercely denied the charges and demanded the release of the full conversation. Justice Department officials noted that she was not under any investigation.

Some questioned the timing of the leaks, just before the government dropped charges against the two former AIPAC staffers, as a last-ditch bid by intelligence agencies to keep the case alive.

Harman had served as the ranking Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee at the time.

After Democrats re-took the House that year, she had hoped to become its chairwoman, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi bumped her, citing the committee’s rotation policy.

In the last election, Harman trounced a primary challenge from Marcy Winograd, a Jewish candidate who backs a binational Israel-Palestinian state.

Harman’s husband, Sidney, recently purchased Newsweek.

Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

That’s where you come in. Gifts of any size keep the Forward free and accessible to everyone and ensure we have the resources we need to power the Forward at this critical time for American Jews.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Will you support our work today?

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT