A former Israel Protection Power officer simply turned the primary Republican elected to a state meeting seat in northern Hempstead, LI, in additional than 50 years.
Daniel Norber, a 45-year-old twin US-Israeli citizen, will occupy the Nassau County seat bordering Queens that was as soon as represented by Democratic state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
Norber received an enormous help from President-elect Donald Trump on the high of the ticket. Trump carried the sixteenth Meeting District by greater than 2,000 votes over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Norber narrowly defeated two-term Democratic incumbent Gina Silitti in a district that features a substantial Jewish inhabitants, together with Nice Neck.
Different communities within the district embrace Manhasset, Port Washington, Roslyn, Merrick, Backyard Metropolis, New Hyde Park, Searingtown and Williston Park.
Antisemitism was an enormous concern within the race, one thing Norber, who’s Jewish, particularly takes to coronary heart.
Norber was in Israel final yr on Oct. 7 when the Palestinian terror group Hamas invaded the Jewish state. He talked to The Publish from a bomb shelter whereas along with his spouse, Inbal, and their 4 youngsters: Michelle, 15, Idan, 14, Karin, 10, and Jonathan, 8.
“It was the worst atrocity to Jews since the Holocaust. Israel is not the same anymore,” he mentioned, noting its fixed wartime footing.
“I saw what happened in Israel. I should do whatever I can to prevent that from happening here.”
He recalled an act of vandalism Aug. 30 on the Shelter Rock Jewish Middle in Searingtown in the district, the place thugs threw purple paint over a banner that learn, “We stand with Israel, bring them home now,” referring to hostages in Gaza.
Silitti suffered blowback when considered one of her staffers bashed Israel on social media, Norber added.
“She wasn’t sensitive to what was going on. I felt she was out of touch,” Norber mentioned.
His grandparents survived the Holocaust, and his mom fled communism within the former Soviet Union.
He mentioned his mother and father raised him to know service, sacrifice and the significance of freedom.
Born in the US and raised in Israel, Daniel was drafted when he was 17 into the IDF, the place he served as a workers sergeant within the army police.
He mentioned the MTA’s congestion-pricing plan and an issue over intercourse training within the state have been different burning points that aided his marketing campaign.
Norber will serve within the 150-seat state Meeting, the place Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1.
He mentioned his priorities are repealing cashless bail, slicing taxes and imposing a state masks ban geared toward stopping lawbreakers from shielding themselves throughout protests.
Nassau County permitted such a ban, “and we need to do that at the state level,” Norber mentioned.
“It’s about keeping minorities safe. It was in place for the Ku Klux Klan,” he mentioned of the ban.
He mentioned he can work with Democrats and discover frequent floor.
“I can cross party lines for the good of the people,” Norber mentioned.
