Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, is leading fellow Democrats on a tour of Israel funded by AIPAC’s educational affiliate.

Two freshmen, Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced they were joining this week’s tour, which will include meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as well as tours of U.S.-funded defense systems, including the short range Iron Dome anti-missile program.

Image by wikicommons Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the second-ranked Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives will lead the delegation of 37 Democrats on a trip to Israel.

Such tours, funded by the American Israel Education Foundation, the educational affiliate of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, routinely take place during the August recess every off-election year, and Hoyer, the minority whip, has led a number of them. They are designed to introduce freshmen to Israel-related issues.

An AIPAC official confirmed that 37 Democrats altogether will be going, although not all of them are freshmen.

The Democratic tour, which lasts about a week, usually is followed up by a similar tour for Republican freshmen, led in recent years by Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the House majority leader and the highest ranked Jewish member of Congress.

Frankel’s release said such a GOP tour was in the works; a JTA question to Cantor’s office, posed over the weekend, was pending.