Steve Israel

Israel has two adult daughters and is also an author. In 2018, he released his second novel, Big Guns.

On January 5, 2016, Israel announced that he would not seek reelection in November 2016.

On July 4, 2013 Israel announced legislation that would require all U.S. national parks to sell merchandise that is Made in the USA.

Israel supports increased regulation on gun ownership. He voted against several bills and amendments which would decrease federal regulation of safety precautions of guns and decrease federal regulations on the sale of firearms. He also cosponsored the 2009 "No Fly, No Buy" Act, stating "Gun safety measures like the 'No Fly, No Buy' Act should be a no-brainer for every member of Congress. It's common sense legislation." He has received 0% ratings from the pro-gun rights NRA and the Gun Owners of America, as well as 100% ratings from the pro-gun control Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Israel was an original cosponsor of the bill To extend the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988 for 10 years (H.R. 3626; 113th Congress), which passed the House on December 3, 2013. The bill allowed for a ten-year extension of the Undetectable Firearms Act of 1988, but did not expand any of its provisions (related to plastic guns).

Since redistricting in 2012, the district includes portions of northern Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island, as well as a small portion of Queens in New York City. Israel chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee from 2011 to 2015 and Democratic Policy and Communications Committee from 2015 to 2017. Prior to his election to Congress, he served on the Huntington Town Board, starting 1993. In 2017, he joined CNN as a political commentator. Israel currently serves on the Board of Advisors for lobbying firm Michael Best Strategies.

As an ally of Nancy Pelosi, Israel was mentioned in 2010 as a possible successor to Chris Van Hollen, the chairman of the DCCC; he declined to speak about it until after the midterms were over, saying he was "just completely focused on supporting Nancy Pelosi."

Israel voted for the 2010 Affordable Care Act, and against several bills repealing it.

Israel supports same-sex marriage. In a press release in June 2009, he said, "I'm proud of what Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Vermont have done for marriage equality. I hope that my home state of New York will soon follow." New York legalized same-sex marriage in 2011.

Steve Israel was an honorary member of the gala host committee for a Gala dinner on October 27, 2009 by J Street, a liberal, nonprofit lobbying group. In the weeks leading up to the Gala dinner, those aligned with the Likud, the political party of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, criticized Steve Israel and those supporting J Street. The Weekly Standard blogger Michael Goldfarb called the J Street dinner an "anti-Israel bash." In response, Steve Israel's spokeswoman Lindsay Hamilton said, "It's absurd that this has become a controversy...The Congressman agreed to be on the gala host committee. That doesn't mean he agrees with every viewpoint of every speaker at the event".

In 2006, in response to Jimmy Carter's book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, Israel said, "I disagree with President Carter fundamentally. The reason for the Palestinian plight is the Palestinians."

Israel has said he supports legal abortions in cases of rape, incest, and threat to the life of the mother, though he does not support abortions being legal in all cases. He has voted against bills that would prohibit federal funding for abortions, against a bill that would eliminate federal funding for Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides abortions, and against the Abortion Pain Act, which would have prevented abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Since 2004 he has consistently received 100% ratings from the pro-choice groups NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and the National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association, as well as a 0% rating from the National Right to Life Committee.

After Rick Lazio left his House seat to run for the United States Senate in 2000, Israel was elected to his seat, receiving 48% of the vote, defeating Republican Joan Jonhson, who received 34%, and four independent candidates. He was reelected six times with relatively little difficulty, despite representing a swing district on paper.

New York election law allows for fusion voting, where a candidate can run as a member of multiple parties. In 2000 Israel ran only as a Democrat in his winning bid for Congress, but since 2002 he has also run as the candidate for the Independence Party and the Working Families Party. In 2000 the Republican candidate ran only as a Republican, but since 2002, every Republican has also run as the candidate for the Conservative Party of New York.

Israel was born in Brooklyn and raised in the Long Island community of Levittown, New York. He attended Nassau Community College and Syracuse University from 1978 to 1979 and graduated from George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in 1982. He then became a staff member for U.S. Representative Richard Ottinger from New York. Israel was elected to the town council in Huntington, New York, in 1993.

Steven J. Israel (born May 30, 1958) is an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New York from 2001 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected in New York's 2nd congressional district until 2013 and New York's 3rd congressional district until his retirement from Congress.