Steve Israel

Israel was born in Brooklyn in 1958 and grew up in Levittown on Long Island.[3] He attended Nassau Community College, Syracuse University, and George Washington University, earning an associate of arts degree from Nassau Community College and a bachelor of arts degree from George Washington University.[8] He received his bachelor's degree in 1982.[3]

After graduating, Israel worked on Capitol Hill for Robert Matsui and subsequently Richard Ottinger.[3] He later returned to New York, ran for town council, and pursued the congressional seat vacated by Rick Lazio.[3]

Israel entered the House of Representatives in 2001, representing New York's 2nd congressional district until 2013 and its 3rd district from 2013 to 2017.[1] His earlier district included the Long Island towns of Huntington, Babylon, Islip, Oyster Bay, and Smithtown.[9] In 2014, he won reelection against Republican Grant Lally.[9] He announced in 2016 that he would not seek another term, ending sixteen years of congressional service.[10]

From 2011 to 2015, Israel chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.[4] He subsequently chaired the House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee and also founded and co-chaired the bipartisan Center Aisle Caucus.[11] His other congressional responsibilities included service as an assistant whip and membership on the House Armed Services and Financial Services committees.[3] He founded and chaired the Democratic Study Group on National Security, co-chaired the bipartisan House Cancer Caucus and Long Island Sound Task Force, and chaired a House Democratic Caucus task force on defense and the military.[3] In a 2016 House tribute, Representative Adam Schiff also credited Israel with work on renewable energy, defense spending, Middle East policy, the Syrian conflict, and issues affecting the middle class.[11]

National security and the U.S.–Israel relationship were recurring subjects of his congressional work.[3][9] In August 2003, he helped lead a congressional delegation to Israel, and in January 2004 he visited American troops in Baghdad, Balad, and Adwar in Iraq.[9] He also formed a Blue Dog Task Force on Israel and the Middle East, intended to explain the importance of U.S.–Israel partnerships to Blue Dog members whose districts did not have significant pro-Israel constituencies.[9]

By 2016, Israel was serving on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.[12] He described himself as a longstanding supporter of security assistance to Israel and pledged continued support for military equipment and technology intended to preserve Israel's qualitative military edge.[12] That year, he secured a provision in the Fiscal Year 2017 Defense Appropriations bill requiring the secretary of defense, in coordination with the director of National Intelligence, to report the number of security-clearance denials and the countries cited as reasons for those decisions.[13] The provision addressed concerns about applicants with ties to Israel; he said its purpose was greater transparency without compromising national security.[13]

Israel co-sponsored House Resolution 354, which passed unanimously on November 3, 2015, by a vote of 418 to 0.[5] It encouraged cooperation between American and European governments to improve security for Jewish communities in Europe, including formal partnerships with Jewish community security organizations.[5] It also supported law-enforcement training to monitor, prevent, and respond to antisemitic violence.[5]

In June 2016, Israel was among the co-sponsors of H.Res. 750, introduced by Representative Ted Deutch, urging the European Union to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization.[14] The European Union had designated only Hezbollah's military wing in 2013.[14] A later account by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs also identifies Israel as a member of the House Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism, launched on March 25, 2015.[15]

Israel's legislative work also addressed medical research and cooperation.[1][9] He sponsored the Save Our Women From Ovarian Cancer Act, which passed unanimously and called for accelerated federal research and insurance coverage for promising early-diagnosis technologies.[9] On July 6, 2016, he introduced the United States–Israel Alzheimer's Disease Cooperation Act, H.R. 5645.[1] That bill was referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and remained at the introduced stage.[1]

As a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Israel was one of three council members who introduced a House resolution honoring Elie Wiesel following his death in 2016.[6] Israel sponsored the resolution on July 7; it recognized Wiesel's work for human rights, peace, and Holocaust remembrance, attracted 170 co-sponsors, and was agreed to by voice vote on September 12, 2016.[1] Its account of Wiesel's legacy emphasized preserving the memory of Holocaust victims, opposing hatred and intolerance, and learning from history.[6]

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Israel campaigned in Florida for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.[16] He said Jewish voters he encountered were more concerned about Donald Trump than Iran, while emphasizing that their priorities extended across a broad range of issues even when support for Israel was explicitly important to them.[16] He was also scheduled to debate Republican strategist Dan Senor at the American Jewish Committee's 2016 Global Forum over which party Jewish voters should favor in that year's elections.[4]

In a 2020 interview, Israel argued that Joe Biden had played an important role in supporting Israel, pointing to the 2014 resupply of Iron Dome batteries during Hamas rocket attacks and saying Biden had urged action.[10] He connected Biden's stated reason for entering the presidential race to the 2017 Charlottesville rally, where neo-Nazi marchers passed a synagogue chanting “Jews will not replace us.”[10] Israel characterized support for Israel and opposition to antisemitism and extremism as natural impulses for Biden.[10]

Israel's debut novel, The Global War on Morris, drew on his experiences in Washington after the September 11 attacks and used political satire to explore surveillance, unchecked government power, and the balance between homeland security and civil liberties.[2] He recalled hearing a general describe spying on elderly anti-war Quakers and drew inspiration from discussions in top-secret meetings.[2] Some dialogue reproduced or loosely adapted remarks he had heard in meetings.[2]

He wrote the novel on planes and trains, working early and late and ultimately completing it on his iPhone.[2] Before the novel, he published Great Jewish Speeches in History and also wrote satire for The New Yorker.[2]

By August 2020, Israel was director of the Cornell Institute of Politics and Global Affairs.[7] That month he was scheduled to participate in a virtual convention-related program discussing American policy toward Iran, prospects for negotiation, and continuing threats to peace.[7] In a 2026 interview, he described running a Cornell University program that brought members of Congress from both parties together to discuss solutions and improve political discourse.[17] He also identified himself as the owner of an independent bookstore on Long Island.[17]

Israel's sixteen years in Congress included leadership of both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, as well as the creation of the bipartisan Center Aisle Caucus.[11] His legislative record included the adopted resolution honoring Elie Wiesel and co-sponsorship of the unanimously approved measure supporting European Jewish community security.[1][5] His later Cornell work continued his involvement in bringing members of the two parties together.[17]

Israel opposed the Iran nuclear agreement concluded in July 2015.[18] In an interview that August, he said he had worked hard to support the agreement but concluded that its overall terms required him to oppose it.[18]

In a 2011 House statement, he opposed using the United Nations to single out Israel over settlements and urged the United States to veto a Security Council resolution criticizing Israel on that issue.[19] He argued that negotiations were the central issue and that disagreements with Israel should be conveyed privately, as with other close allies.[19]