Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) was named on Tuesday as the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East Subcommittee, a move that places one of the House’s most outspoken pro-Israel Democrats in a key leadership role even as many in the party take a more skeptical stance toward the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Moskowitz has frequently worked with his GOP counterpart, subcommittee Chair Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), on various issues related to Israel and Middle East policy.

“I’m honored to be named Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa,” Moskowitz said in a statement. “At a moment of enormous change across the region, I’ll work to strengthen America’s relationships with Israel and our Gulf allies, expand regional peace, advance American diplomacy, and ensure our foreign policy is grounded in strength, security, and reality. I’m ready to get to work.”

He also thanked Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), the Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) “for this important responsibility to help lead Democrats[‘] policy in the Middle East and North Africa on the Foreign Affairs Committee.”

The position has a turbulent history, as it was originally held in the current congressional term by former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL). Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) took over the spot after Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted on corruption charges, but he holds another subcommittee leadership post and would not have been able to retain the Middle East leadership role in the next Congress.

Sherman and Lawler, while working together on some legislation, also clashed heatedly on multiple occasions during committee hearings.

In a statement, Meeks congratulated Moskowitz and thanked Sherman for his “stewardship” of the subcommittee over the past several months.

Should Democrats win the House — and Moskowitz win his reelection race — he would likely be in line to chair the subcommittee next year.

Moskowitz is the sixth lawmaker to lead Democrats on the subcommittee since 2022. The post was previously held by former Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who retired at the end of the previous session, and former Reps. Ted Deutch (D-FL) and David Cicilline (D-RI), both of whom resigned in the middle of their terms.

The announcement has prompted grumbling from Israel critics, who argued that Moskowitz is out of step with a majority of Democrats on Middle East issues.