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WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. David Cicilline, the Jewish Rhode Island Democrat and influential pro-Israel progressive, is leaving Congress.
Cicilline stated Tuesday he’ll exit Congress in June to move the Rhode Island Basis, the largest funder of nonprofits within the Ocean State. The inspiration is massively influential within the state and main it might provide Cicilline, 61, a pathway into statewide workplace.
Cicilline is a member of the Democrats’ Progressive Caucus. He and a number of other different progressive Democrats belie the standard knowledge that the normal pro-Israel neighborhood is dropping the occasion’s left. Different caucus members with conventional pro-Israel views embody Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Brad Sherman of California and Ritchie Torres of New York.
He aligns with mainstream pro-Israel positions in plenty of areas, together with in his criticism of the United Nations for singling out Israel. Cicilline is homosexual, and just lately, he expressed considerations about anti-LGBTQ prejudice amongst members of Israel’s new governing coalition. Cicilline was Windfall’s first ever LGBTQ-identifying mayor.
He received the highest Democratic spot on the influential Center East subcommittee of the Home Overseas Affairs Committee final yr — a selection pro-Israel insiders have been pleased with, though he wasn’t their most popular candidate. He obtained help from the political motion committees affiliated with each main Israel lobbies — the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and J Road.
Cicilline additionally attracted consideration as one of many managers of former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial, which targeted on Trump’s position in serving to to spur the lethal storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Rhode Island’s different congressional consultant, Democrat Seth Magaziner, additionally identifies as Jewish.
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