By Grace Gilson
Rep. Steny Hoyer, Maryland’s longest-serving member of Congress and a lawmaker with longstanding close ties to the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, recently announced his retirement.
“I did not want to be one of those members who clearly stayed, outstayed his or her ability to do the job,” the 86-year-old Hoyer told the Washington Post ahead of his announcement last Thursday, Jan. 9.
Hoyer, a Democrat 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’s capital.
Hoyer is a St. Mary’s County resident and a Baptist who grew up in the Prince George’s County community of Mitchellville.
“Rep. Hoyer’s moral clarity, commitment to bipartisanship and unwavering work to confront antisemitism, alongside his steadfast support for the U.S.–Israel relationship and the Jewish community more broadly, have made a lasting difference,” wrote the Anti-Defamation League.
Hoyer’s 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.
“Our country, the Democratic Party, and the pro-Israel movement are all in a better place today because of his service,” Brian Romick, president and CEO of the Democratic Majority for Israel, said in a statement. “I 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.”
Hoyer addressed changes in support for Israel in November of 2024, when he celebrated after a proposal to restrict the sale of U.S.-made weapons to Israel was voted down.
“It is vital that we maintain Congress’ overwhelming bipartisan consensus supporting Israel. Israelis and Americans — and Democrats and Republicans — must continue to stand together as we navigate the most crucial period in the 76-year history of our U.S.-Israel relationship,” said Hoyer in a press release at the time.
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 has visited Israel “22 times.”
“Contrary to world opinion, Israel has been doing everything it possibly can to ensure that there’s minimal damage to civilians who are not part of Hamas’ army,” said Hoyer in the video. “Unfortunately, the world is not seeing that, and one of the things I’ve tried to tell the leadership in Israel, please get that message out, please expose it.”
Hoyer’s trip to Israel last year 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 “knows what he is doing is wrong and unpopular, so he is deliberately hiding information about this trip.”
“While 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,” Jarin wrote at the time. “You cannot claim to defend democracy in one breath and embrace an authoritarian partner in the next.”
Jarin responded to Hoyer’s retirement announcement by saying that Hoyer had once represented Marylanders well. “His service deserves respect, and I acknowledge the role he played in shaping an earlier era of the Democratic Party,” 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.
Hoyer’s retirement comes as several other prominent backers of Israel have also announced their retirements from Congress ahead of the midterm elections.
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.
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.
In Schakowsky’s 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.
Grace Gilson wrote this article for the JTA global Jewish news source.
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