In 2019,
Jack Rosen, president of the
American Jewish Congress, called for a bi-partisan Congressional Jewish Caucus as a
congressional caucus, in response to increasing antisemitism, political factionalism in the Jewish community, and anti-Israel advocacy in Congress. An informal group of Jewish members of the U.S. House, almost all of them members of the
Democratic Party, led by
Eliot Engel and
Nita Lowey, had met since at least to discuss issues such as
antisemitism. However, there was no formal body similar to the
New York City Council Jewish Caucus and the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. Following controversial comments by
Ilhan Omar, in which she referred to Americans who supported Israel as "pushing for allegiance to a foreign country", conversations to formalize the group increased. Citing a rising in antisemitic hate crimes and to coordinate a unified policy on U.S.–Israel relations, Jewish members of the
117th United States Congress had formed an informal Jewish caucus by May 2023. The group was led by
Jerry Nadler, the longest-serving Jewish member of Congress and the dean of the Jewish delegation. The caucus met as a group with Israeli ambassador
Michael Herzog during the crisis over the
2023 Israeli judicial reform. During the
118th United States Congress, Congresswoman
Debbie Wasserman Schultz filed to create a Jewish Caucus in November 2023, in the context of the
Gaza war. The caucus was formally approved by the
House Administration Committee. According to Wasserman Schultz, the caucus would be secular and have the purpose of seeking Jewish unity in the U.S. House. The caucus held its first meeting on December 1, 2023, convened by Wasserman Schultz.
David Kustoff, one of two Jewish Republicans, also did not plan to join, because he does not join caucuses in Congress. On April 1, 2025, Aaron Weinberg of Rep.
Jerry Nadler's office and Gil Thompson of Rep.
Brad Schneider's office were named executive directors of the caucus. ==Membership==