A Few Minutes with Steny Hoyer

I spoke with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer about his experiences during the trip, the level of support for Israel among Democrats, and of course about “the Squad.”

How would you sum up the visit?

I think it’s been a very, very positive visit. We had 32 freshman members. The largest previous trip was 29, which I think shows the interest and support that exists for Israel among Democrats. There’s a large delegation of Republicans as well, which indicates the bipartisan support that Israel continues to enjoy. This trip has been very, very useful, particularly for members who have not been to Israel before. Nothing substitutes being on the ground, looking at the proximity of the threats that exist, and the means that are being used to defend Israel and its people. Also, we saw the economic success that Israel is having and its extraordinary growth. It was an eye-opening trip, as it always is, for people who visited for the first time. They got a real feel for the issues that we deal with in Congress.

Why was it important to lead such a large delegation? Was it important for you to show that Democrats support Israel?

The Democrats have always been very strong supporters of Israel, and very strong opponents of anti-Semitism, so I don’t know that there’s a need to prove anything. And I want to emphasize that we continue to have bipartisan support for Israel and that those who try to make Israel a partisan issue are making a mistake. Not only do I think they are wrong on the facts, but I think it’s against the interests of Israel itself to try to make this a partisan issue. The fact is we just passed a resolution on the boycott, divestment and sanctions bill, with [support of] almost 400 of the 430 members who voted. That’s overwhelming bipartisan support [for a resolution] that opposes any efforts that would either be anti-Semitic in tone or results and adverse to the interests of one of our strongest and most important allies in the world.

You visited the Palestinian Authority as well. What did you hear there? And do you think the Palestinians are interested in solving the conflict?

We went to Ramallah and met with President Abbas, with Mr. Saeb Erakat, and with the prime minister. Very frankly, Mr. Abbas articulated the position that I’ve heard from him before in pretty much the same terms [as before], so I don’t think that was surprising. But I think it was important that new members got the opportunity to go to Ramallah to hear the president of the Palestinian Authority, and judge the arguments that he made. I think that’s very important. This is not just a trip with one side of the story. We wanted to listen to both sides. And we did that when we met with [Prime Minister] Netanyahu [the Likud leader] and General [Benny] Gantz [the leader of the Blue and White party].