A longtime New York congressman has been elected the next chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Gregory Meeks (D-NY) was elected to the position Dec. 3, becoming the first Black person to hold the powerful position. His victory has drawn praise from a variety of Middle East-focused groups in Washington.

Meeks is an 11-term congressman who was first elected in 1998. He represents a district of the New York City borough of Queens. He succeeds Eliot Engel, another New York City Democrat, who lost his primary election this year. Engel was strongly pro-Israel and relatively hawkish on Middle East policy, having voted in 2002 for the Iraq War. He was ousted by pro-Palestinian progressive Jamaal Bowman in his primary. Meeks defeated Joaquin Castro (D-TX) for the position.

The chairman-elect has a long history of voting on Middle East issues. Meeks voted against the Iraq War in 2002. He is generally pro-Israel and has voted for military aid to the Jewish state. In a press release after being named the next chair, Meeks mentioned a desire to return to the Iran nuclear deal, which he voted for in 2015.