A former Israel Defense Force officer just became the first Republican elected to a state assembly seat in northern Hempstead, LI, in more than 50 years.
Daniel Norber, a 45-year-old dual US-Israeli citizen, will occupy the Nassau County seat bordering Queens that was once represented by Democratic state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.
Norber got a big assist from President-elect Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. Trump carried the 16th Assembly District by more than 2,000 votes over Vice President Kamala Harris.
Norber narrowly defeated two-term Democratic incumbent Gina Silitti in a district that includes a substantial Jewish population, including Great Neck.
Other communities in the district include Manhasset, Port Washington, Roslyn, Merrick, Garden City, New Hyde Park, Searingtown and Williston Park.
Antisemitism was a big issue in the race, something Norber, who is Jewish, especially takes to heart.
Norber was in Israel last year on Oct. 7 when the Palestinian terror group Hamas invaded the Jewish state. He talked to The Post from a bomb shelter while with his wife, Inbal, and their four kids: 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 said, noting its constant 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 at the Shelter Rock Jewish Center in Searingtown in the district, where thugs threw red paint over a banner that read, “We stand with Israel, bring them home now,” referring to hostages in Gaza.
Silitti suffered blowback when 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 said.
His grandparents survived the Holocaust, and his mother fled communism in the former Soviet Union.
He said his parents raised him to understand service, sacrifice and the importance of freedom.
Born in the United States and raised in Israel, Daniel was drafted when he was 17 into the IDF, where he served as a staff sergeant in the military police.
He said the MTA’s congestion-pricing plan and a controversy over sex education in the state were other burning issues that aided his campaign.
Norber will serve in the 150-seat state Assembly, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1.
He said his priorities are repealing cashless bail, cutting taxes and imposing a state mask ban aimed at preventing lawbreakers from shielding themselves during protests.
Nassau County approved such a ban, “and we need to do that at the state level,” Norber said.
“It’s about keeping minorities safe. It was in place for the Ku Klux Klan,” he said of the ban.
He said he can work with Democrats and find common ground.
“I can cross party lines for the good of the people,” Norber said.
