It’s a sad state of affairs when the peccadilloes of an oversexed congressman become the hottest news story in the country.

Nevertheless, that is what we had with Weinergate.

Over his five terms in the House representing New York’s 9th District, Rep. Anthony Weiner had been a liberal firebrand, exciting those on the left while incurring the wrath of those on the right.

Everyone by now knows the story. Over the course of the last month, it was revealed that the married Jewish congressman had used Twitter and other forms of digital media to send out racy photos of himself, and engage in lewd online chats with numerous women.

Then, when caught, he lied about it.

Usually, the coverup is worse than the crime, but Weiner’s actions suggested this is a troubled man with poor judgment and terrible impulse control. Not the kind of person anyone would want in a position of great responsibility.

Recently, along with Republicans, the House Democratic leadership has weighed in, urging Weiner to resign — even President Barack Obama has said he’d step down if he were in Weiner’s shoes.

We agreed, and on Thursday, June 16, he took the advice and resigned.

We didn’t make this call easily or lightly. First, in the interest of simple fairness, Weiner had been entitled to a measure of empathy. There was no indication that he ever neglected his constituents’ concerns. In fact, polls in his district indicated voters had stuck with him throughout much of this ordeal.

More importantly, throughout his career Weiner has been a staunch advocate of Israel. Jews and all friends of Israel needed his voice, especially as anti-Israel pressures grow worldwide.

Now, with Weiner gone, his strong pro-Israel voice will be lost from the halls of Congress.

Weiner’s defenders (and he did have a few) had cited the unfairness of it all. Other top politicians, from Louisiana Sen. David Vitter to former President Bill Clinton, have been caught in messy sex scandals, yet they remained in office.

In light of that, why, ask his supporters, should Weiner have had step down when he never actually had sex with the women he contacted? It’s a fair question, but any perceived double standard gaves way to Weiner’s excessive, seemingly pathological behavior.

Now, he’s history. Yes, we lost a fierce fighter for Israel. But this distraction had to end.