Jerrold “Jerry” Nadler, a congressional icon and the longest-serving Jew in the U.S. House, with more than thirty years stitched into his suspenders and a reputation as a barometer of New York liberalism in swiftly shifting political winds, is hanging up the proverbial suit.
At 78, Nadler has announced that November 2026 will close his chapter in Washington, ending a 34-year run that saw him evolve from Brooklyn scrapper to one of the Democratic Party’s most visible fighters—leading impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, battling for civil rights, and long standing as a steady ally of Israel.
Speaking to The New York Times, Nadler admitted the years and the changing current inside his party finally forced reflection. “Watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party, and I think I want to respect that,” he said, conceding that a younger successor might serve the movement better. Yet he was quick to remind that the timing was perilous, warning that as Trump pushes what he called “emerging fascism,” Democrats require a leadership refresh strong enough to meet it head-on.
But it was not only generational talk that shook Washington. Nadler’s farewell also carried a stunning rupture with Israel. Once among the most reliably pro-Israel voices in Congress, a fixture at AIPAC gatherings and a figure Jerusalem had counted on for decades, Nadler declared Israel guilty of “war crimes and indiscriminate mass killing in Gaza.” He said flatly he could no longer defend its actions. In a final twist of political legacy, he vowed to push before retiring for an arms embargo on offensive weapons bound for Israel, while still backing defensive systems like Iron Dome.
The shift was not born overnight. In July 2024, on the eve of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress, Nadler blasted him as “the worst leader in Jewish history,” accusing him of dishonesty and of prolonging the Gaza war to duck investigations into the failures of October 7. He argued Netanyahu deliberately slowed hostage deals to keep the conflict alive, clinging to war as political cover. “He says he wants peace,” Nadler charged then, “but his interest is to preserve the fighting as long as possible.”
That same contrarian streak spilled back home. Nadler stunned many in New York’s Jewish community when he lent his support to Zohran Mamdani, the socialist, anti-Israel candidate who upset Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primaries for mayor. Nadler not only gave Mamdani his blessing but helped arrange meetings with Jewish leaders, even as some boycotted.
Mamdani, who has endorsed chants of “globalize the intifada” and champions the BDS movement, seemed an unlikely ally for a man who once labeled BDS “vicious antisemitism.” Nadler defended the move as influence from within, insisting he told Mamdani he was a Zionist committed to Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state, even as he skewered Netanyahu’s government. Critics accused him of “throwing the Jewish community under the bus.”
His retirement now sets the stage for a high-stakes succession fight in Manhattan’s 12th District, one of the richest and most influential patches of America, running from Union Square through the Upper East and Upper West Sides around Central Park. Already names are circling: Micah Lasher, once Nadler’s aide and now a state assemblyman, and Liam Elkind, a 26-year-old activist already announcing his candidacy.
For Nadler, the arc has always been both personal and political. Born in Brooklyn to a family of Holocaust refugees, he claimed his seat in 1992 after the sudden death of Congressman Ted Weiss and quickly cemented himself as the archetype of Upper West Side liberalism. He fought for compensation for 9/11 survivors, helped expand LGBT rights, and cultivated a public image equal parts blunt and endearing—complete with thick glasses, trademark suspenders, and that viral impeachment-era moment when he carried a Zabar’s bag into hearings. Asked what it held, he quipped, “A babka and the Constitution—what else?”
Yet beneath the showmanship was resilience. Nadler openly discussed his lifelong struggle with obesity, undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2002 that helped him shed 50 kilos and extend his career by decades. His departure now is not only the closing of a political career but a symbolic tremor in the relationship between Israel and the Democratic Party: the day one of its most enduring Jewish champions declared he would lead the charge for an arms embargo.