Thirty Seven House Democrats To Head To Israel on AIPAC Trip
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives will lead the delegation of 37 Democrats on a trip to Israel. Image by wikicommons
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, is leading fellow Democrats on a tour of Israel funded by AIPAC’s educational affiliate.
Two freshmen, Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced they were joining this week’s tour, which will include meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as well as tours of U.S.-funded defense systems, including the short range Iron Dome anti-missile program.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives will lead the delegation of 37 Democrats on a trip to Israel. Image by wikicommons
Such tours, funded by the American Israel Education Foundation, the educational affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, routinely take place during the August recess every off-election year, and Hoyer, the minority whip, has led a number of them. They are designed to introduce freshmen to Israel-related issues.
An AIPAC official confirmed that 37 Democrats altogether will be going, although not all of them are freshmen.
The Democratic tour, which lasts about a week, usually is followed up by a similar tour for Republican freshmen, led in recent years by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House majority leader and the highest ranked Jewish member of Congress.
Frankel’s release said such a GOP tour was in the works; a JTA question to Cantor’s office, posed over the weekend, was pending.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
