Rep. Gary Ackerman Won’t Run for Reelection

By JTA March 16, 2012

Gary Ackerman, one of the veteran Jewish members of the U.S. House of Representatives, announced he would not run again.

Ackerman, who has served 29 years as a Democrat from Queens/Long Island, said he was stepping down at a time that his reelction was reassured.

“During my years in Congress, it has been my pleasure to address the needs of thousands of individual constituents and to influence domestic and global policy while serving on the Financial and Foreign Affairs Committees in the House.” Ackerman said in a statement Thursday. “I am most thankful for the opportunity I’ve had to serve my country and my community.”

Ackerman, 69, leaves as the ranking Democrat on the Middle East subcommittee. Known for a white carnation he has sported since his days as a schoolteacher, the dapper Ackerman was close to the pro-Israel lobby but willing to speak out when he saw Israel as missing chances for peace.

He was a leader in 2007 in seeking increased funding for the Palestinian Authority, but also inveighed against anti-Semitism in the Arab world and among Palestinians.

He was the most prominent stalwart of allies of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to accept the endorsement of its dovish rival, J Street, in the 2010 election, but later broke with the group when it did not distance itself without qualification from Richard Goldstone, the U.N. investigator who said Israel had committed war crimes.

Recently, he made headlines when he helped free Ilan Grapel, a constituent who was arrested in the chaos following the Egyptian revolution a year ago.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO