Rep. Lawrence Smith’s decision this week not to run for re-election is being seen here as a major setback for the pro-Israel community on Capitol Hill, which has long benefited from the Florida Democrat’s support.
Smith announced his retirement from the House of Representatives on Tuesday, saying, “The job I love has become impossible do.
“Washington doesn’t work anymore, and the public arena is increasingly frustrating and bitter,” he said in a taped statement to a Miami television station.
Pro-Israel activists were quick to voice dismay over Smith’s move.
“I cannot think of words that fully express our regret and the loss we feel in Larry’s decision not to run,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
He called the congressman a “stalwart friend and advocate, and an articulate spokesman.”
“Larry has been synonymous with outspoken, effective leadership on virtually all issues affecting the U.S. -Israel relationship,” said Tom Dine, executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Smith, who is Jewish, is suffering politically for having written 161 overdrafts at the House Bank. And last week, Common Cause, the Washington-based political watchdog group, asked the House ethics committee to determine if Smith made personal use of $10, 000 from his campaign war chest.
A third reason for his retirement is that his district is being reshaped, in keeping with this decade’s census, to include more Cuban-Americans and fewer Jews.
TOUGH ON ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS
The six-term lawmaker will be remembered for “his activism and his outspokenness,” said Morris Amatory, treasure of Washington PAC, a large pro-Israel political action committees.
In Smith’s first five terms, he served on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and became notorious for his sharp temper. It was only in the last two years that Smith made a jump to the more crucial appropriations subcommittee, which votes on Israel’s $3 billion annual foreign aid package.
Even as a freshman lawmaker, Smith achieved a reputation for his testy exchanges with State Department officials. Even pro-Israel officials, such as former Secretary of State George Shultz, received tough treatment from the Florida congressman.
Smith’s departure, and the decision of Rep. Mel Levine (D-Calif.) to run for one of California’s two open Senate seats, means that pro-Israel activists will have to find new House Democrats to rally their colleagues on pro-Israel issues.
Possible candidates for that role are Reps. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), said one pro-Israel lobbyist here.
Another possibility is that Rep. Stephen Solarz (D-N.Y), who has been a prominent supporter of Israel but has been markedly less confrontational than Smith or Levine, could step in and become more involved in rallying colleagues, the lobbyist said.
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