Cantor’s loss, isolationist foreign policy and Jews in the GOP.

By Steve Lipman

June 18, 2014

Rep. Eric Cantor’s surprise loss in a primary election last week will leave Congress without a Republican Jewish member and Jewish organizations without one of their strongest advocates on Capitol Hill, but it will likely not diminish support for the Jewish community’s legislative agenda, political observers said this week.

However, Cantor’s loss has sparked a debate in parts of the Jewish community about Jewish Republicans’ role — and comfort level — in a party that is increasingly being influenced by the conservative Tea Party movement.

Observers, some of them with close ties to the GOP, told The Jewish Week that bipartisan congressional backing for Israel, and for such issues as opposition to anti-Semitism, will continue under other members of Congress after Cantor (R-Va.) leaves the House of Representatives at the end of the year. He has served seven terms, and risen to the rank of majority leader, the No. 2 Republican leadership position in the House.

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