On Monday, House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) will be bringing a large delegation of freshman Democratic members of Congress to Israel. The Trip is sponsored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). A Republican group is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Friday.

These trips to Israel are organized in August of every off-election year for new members of Congress. Hoyer will be joined by chairman of the House Democratic Caucus Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY). The presence of these party leaders shows the importance the trip has to party leadership. It is part of the effort to squash some of the questioning of the US-Israel relationship that has been growing within the party.