JTA — Eliot Engel, a Jewish New York Democrat who served more than three decades in US Congress and became one of the most prominent pro-Israel voices on Capitol Hill, has died at 79.

Serving in the House of Representatives beginning in 1989, Engel’s decades-long career ended in 2021 when he lost the Democratic primary to Jamaal Bowman, a defeat that underscored a broader turning point in the Democratic Party’s shifting views on support for Israel.

“If we want to effectuate change in the world, if there are things we want to see in the world, if we are going to be the world leader, there are responsibilities that come with that,” Engel told The Washington Post in a December 2020 interview. “We are the leaders, and we should act like it.”

Born on February 18, 1947, in the Bronx to Jewish parents, Engel worked as a teacher and guidance counselor for New York City public schools before earning his law degree and serving in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 1988.

“All four of my grandparents were immigrants, Jewish immigrants from what’s now Ukraine, who fled the pogroms of the early 20th century, looking for a safe haven and opportunity. And guess what? They found it in America,” Engel told The Jerusalem Post in 2021. “They came here before World War I. If they hadn’t come here, they almost certainly would’ve perished in the Holocaust. This country has been a refuge to people who are hurting for many, many years, and I’m grateful for it.”

Representing parts of New York including Westchester County and the Bronx, Engel’s time in office was marked by a consistent focus on foreign policy, including support for the NATO-led........

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