Congressional Jewish Caucus

Earlier this month, Jewish members of the 119th United States Congress voted to create a formal Congressional Jewish Caucus for the first time. The historic achievement was the result of more than a year’s planning, negotiation and cajoling, led by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) and Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).

The range of interest group caucuses in the House is wide. There are hundreds of them. They are generally broken down by ideology, affinity and other common interests. Many of the caucuses are familiar and quite influential, like the Black, Hispanic and Asian Pacific American Congressional Caucuses. Others, less so. But they all serve a purpose.

Given the broad political diversity of many of the Jewish House members, there was an initial hesitancy among some members to join the caucus. But in the end, every Jewish Democratic member of Congress decided to do so. Unfortunately, none of the three Republican Jewish members of Congress has joined. That’s a real shame and a missed opportunity.

The need for a Jewish caucus in Congress is clear. It can serve as a clearinghouse on issues of concern to the Jewish community and a forum within which unified Jewish concerns can be expressed and solutions developed.

With the disturbing rise of antisemitism in the United States and the challenges the American Jewish community has faced in the wake of the Hamas attack of Oct. 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza, there is unquestionable value in having a forum for Jewish House members to discuss issues of Jewish concern even if they don’t agree on the best course to follow in response to each of the issues. But on matters where they do agree, a unified voice of a Congressional Jewish Caucus can carry great weight.

That influence would be far more impactful if it were bipartisan. And it is for that reason that we encourage Reps. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Craig Goldman (R-TX) and Max Miller (R-Ohio) to join the caucus. In doing so, Kustoff, Goldman and Miller would not just be joining with their co-religionists in the House to focus on issues of concern to the American Jewish community of which they are a part, they would also help address by example the disturbing political polarization in Congress that delegitimizes efforts simply because of the political party from which the idea comes.

And who knows what other benefits could result?

Among the two most significant issues facing America’s Jewish community are antisemitism and security. While neither should be a partisan issue, we recognize that there are different approaches that could be pursued to address them. Congress and the Jewish community would benefit from a respectful, bipartisan discussion and evaluation of the issues by the Congressional Jewish Caucus. And its recommendations would be meaningful.

We urge Reps. Kustoff, Goldman and Miller to give the Jewish Caucus a chance and to join its ranks. If it turns out the Caucus is politically driven rather than issue-oriented, they can resign. But at least they would have made the effort in good faith. On the other hand, if the Caucus leaders are true to their word and focus on Jewish communal issues rather than politics, we would all benefit by having a bipartisan voice advocating for our communal interests. ■