![\"Netanyahu](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792193655_234_.webp\")
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), on left, and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Nov. 12, 2023. Credit: U.S. embassy in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
(Oct. 16, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n
If the Democrats take control of the House in January, as they are expected to do, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, would likely become chair of the panel. His track record suggests that he would generally support Israel, experts told JNS.<\/p>\n
There is a \u201cgeneral rule of seniority\u201d in selecting leaders of House committees, according to David Luchins, chair of the political science department at Touro University\u2019s Lander College for Women.<\/p>\n
The chair usually goes to the most senior member of the committee, unless there\u2019s a challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cHardly ever is there a challenge, because people want when their time comes that they become a chair also,\u201d Luchins told JNS. \u201cIt\u2019s happened maybe 10 times in the last 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrats tend to follow that rule of seniority \u201cmore strictly\u201d than do Republicans, but even though there is \u201ca little more leeway\u201d on the GOP side, Republicans tend to follow the same rules, according to Luchins.<\/p>\n
The professor expects that Meeks will be the chair of the committee after the midterm elections and will replace Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), the current chair. (JNS sought comment from Meeks and Mast.)<\/p>\n
Tyler Stapleton, senior director of government relations at FDD Action, a Foundation for Defense of Democracies affiliate, told JNS that after the midterms, a Democratic steering committee will likely select Meeks as the panel chair. The caucus will hold a vote to confirm that.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless Meeks is interested in another committee, there is an almost certain chance he will be House Foreign Affairs Committee chair,\u201d Stapleton said.<\/p>\n
Dan Schnur, who lectures on political science at multiple schools, including University of California, Berkeley, told JNS that neither Mast nor Meeks appear to have a credible challenger to the top-ranking positions on the committee.<\/p>\n
But the selection process \u201ccould become a point of disagreement,\u201d as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) \u201cworks to attract progressive support to become speaker,\u201d according to Schnur.<\/p>\n
Meeks is generally considered pro-Israel, but \u201che has not always voted in Israel\u2019s interest,\u201d Schnur said.<\/p>\n