It’s gotten to the point that, when a top Democrat stands up against anti-Semitism, he soon feels the need to backtrack.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) won a standing ovation this week at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference when he pointedly said, “There are 62 freshman Democrats. You hear me? Sixty-two — not three.”

Just before that, he’d said: “When someone accuses American supporters of Israel of dual loyalty, I say: Accuse me. I am part of a large, bipartisan coalition in Congress supporting Israel. I tell Israel’s detractors: Accuse us.”

So everyone saw his reference to three Democratic frosh as a slap at headline-hogging Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Omar can’t manage to avoid anti-Semitic tropes, including the “dual loyalty” charge; Tlaib is bent on ending US aid to Israel; AOC defends them both.

But then Hoyer followed up the next day with a statement that walked back his words: “I was lamenting that the media does not appear to be paying enough attention to other excellent new members.”

So much for that profile in courage.