Suozzi, running against an IDF veteran for Santos’ former seat, takes a weekend trip to Israel
Democrat Tom Suozzi faces an Ethiopian Israeli in the race for the Long Island district, where about 13% of the voters are Jewish
Former Rep. Tom Suozzi on June 16, 2022. Photo by Craig Ruttle-Pool/Getty Images
By Jacob Kornbluh December 22, 2023
Tom Suozzi, the Democratic nominee for the seat that opened when the House expelled Rep. George Santos, landed in Israel on Friday morning to express support for the Jewish state in its war with Hamas.
The war, and the spike in antisemitism that has accompanied it, are focal points in the closely contested race for the district, which spans neighborhoods in the eastern part of Long Island, New York, and Queens in New York City.
Suozzi said he will spend the weekend learning about the impact of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israelis, touring the hard-hit areas near Gaza and meeting with families of Israeli hostages. “I am trying to demonstrate my unequivocal support for, and solidarity with, Israel and Jewish people around the world during this difficult time,” Suozzi said in an interview, “and to hear firsthand about the resolve of the Israeli people and explore how the U.S. can further assist our democratic ally in this fight to eliminate Hamas.”
His rival in the swing district is an actual Israeli.
Mazi Melesa Pilip, an Ethiopian-born Orthodox Jewish county legislator, who has touted her past service in the Israeli army, is running against Suozzi, who held the seat for three terms before retiring in 2022. The district — which the Democrats comfortably won in 2020 and Santos, a Republican, took in 2022 – remains a toss-up, according to the Cook Political Report. Jewish voters represent an estimated 13% of its electorate.
The outcome of the Feb. 13 special election may also hint as to how the Israel-Hamas war will influence the 2024 presidential election. Whether Suozzi’s steadfast support for Israel will lead younger and more liberal voters to sit out the election, rather than back him, could foreshadow how President Joe Biden will fare among these voters.
Recent polls show a shift among Democrats toward supporting a cease-fire in Gaza. A New York Times/Siena College poll published Tuesday showed that 64% of Democrats think Israel should stop its current military campaign, even if Hamas is not defeated, and that 72% of younger voters are dissatisfied with Biden’s approach to the war, with some moving toward Donald Trump.
Suozzi said in the interview that while there’s no difference between him and Pilip on Israel, there is more need for a pro-Israel Democrat to bolster support for the Jewish state within the party.
“In today’s day and age, another pro-Israel Republican does not add much to the equation,” Suozzi said. “A pro-Israel Democrat, especially a strong and outspoken pro-Israel Democrat, is what we need in the country right now, especially if we want to keep support for Israel a bipartisan issue.”
‘There’s no equivocation’
Suozzi has deep ties with the Jewish community. He served as Nassau County executive before succeeding former Rep. Steve Israel, who is Jewish, following Israel’s retirement in 2016. Suozzi was vice-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, and in his first House floor speech spoke about buttressing Israel’s security. He often uses Yiddish and Hebrew terms when engaging with Jews.
His first trip to Israel was in 2002 during the Second Intifada, an experience he said significantly contributed to his concern for the country.
“We must continue to do everything we can to defeat Hamas,” Suozzi said, commenting on the current war. “There’s no equivocation.”
The terrorist group killed 1,200 in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel, and abducted some 240 Israeli and foreign nationals. More than 19,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Suozzi said he recently watched the 47-minute video compilation of the Oct. 7 atrocities that the Israeli government has made available to public officials, journalists and students on college campuses.
“My job right now is to show solidarity,” Suozzi said.
No regrets
Suozzi said his unexpected return to politics was prompted by Santos’ expulsion, constituents who urged him to run and his desire to “make the world a better place.”
He expressed no regrets for his 2022 retirement — which created the open seat that was won by scandal-plagued Santos, who lied about his schooling, work history and heritage, falsely claiming that he was Jewish. His summed up his change of plans by invoking a Yiddish proverb: “Mensch tracht un Gott lacht” — man plans and God laughs.
Suozzi said he went on a silent retreat after his loss to incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul in the Democratic gubernatorial primary last year — and grew a beard and studied the Bible. “I was happy to be out of politics,” he said. “And then, as time went on, George Santos became a bigger and bigger story.”
Republican leaders picked Pilip as their nominee after a thorough vetting, mindful of how poorly Santos was vetted before his race. They chose her despite the fact, as Politico reported last week, that she is still a registered Democrat — though she has twice run and won as a Republican. She also acknowledged recently that she didn’t serve as a parachutist in the IDF despite describing herself in her social media bio as a “former IDF paratrooper.”
“I was in charge of all the guns in the paratroopers unit,” she said in an interview on JBS, a Jewish television network, last month.
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