Representative Steve Israel

Former Representative Steve Israel’s new comic novel on the gun lobby answers the question: “Why doesn’t Congress do anything when the bullets fly?” Praised by the Washington Post and compared by critics to Joseph Heller, Israel arms himself with sharp humor to  expose the absurdities of Washington. He pulls the curtain on what happens in the deal-making, money-raising, PAC-suckling world of Congress. It’s a discomforting, hilarious indictment of the state of American politics.

Fresh from six years as the lead campaign and message strategist for House Democrats -and a total of 16 years as a Congressman-  Steve Israel illuminates the personalities and issues that will define the relationship between President Trump and congressional Democrats. He describes the battle-lines and bridges that will be drawn; the issues that will move and the ones that will stall.  From confirmation hearings to immigration; repealing the ACA to reforming the tax code; funding infrastructure to foreign policy, Israel engages audiences with trademark wit and behind-the-scenes intel. His political insights appear regularly in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic Monthly and television cable networks.

If you really want to understand how Congress operates, listen to Steve Israel’s no-holds- barred presentation on congressional fundraising. Israel takes you behind the scenes of dialing for dollars and check-drops, soggy hor d’ouvres and gloppy egg breakfasts.  Israel’s gritty portrayal has been prominently profiled on Sixty Minutes, HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” with John Oliver, and the New York Times. His first-hand insight shines a bright light on the dark world of superpacs and secret money; and a blueprint of reforms that will revitalize American democracy.

Intelligence agencies agree that the world is changing as fast as ever. The Army calls it “VUCA”: Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous.  As a congressional leader on defense issues for 16 years, Rep. Israel specialized in the nature of future conflict: who we’ll fight, where and why. He’s lectured at West Point, the National Defense University, and was the commencement speaker at the Naval War College (link). His views helped inform the National Intelligence Council’s quadrennial assessment of future trends.  But this isn’t simply a national security assessment – this tells you everything you’ll need to know about the world your company or organization will operate in: new markets and big data; disruptive technologies and rapid demographic change; resource competition and global crises. Israel’s intel-driven assessment of the world in 2050 is as fascinating as it is challenging.

In this provocative argument, Rep.  Israel diagnoses four convergences that were largely missed by Washington pundits and led to President Trump’s election: a radically changing economy, an historic breakdown of faith in all institutions, a pervasive sense of personal threat, and an historic cynicism about democracy.  As Chairman of the Democratic Policy & Communications Committee, Israel led a two year research project that concluded that Democrats needed to tap into those anxieties and offer a constructive set of solutions.  He shares cutting edge polling and focus group to help your organization navigate an unprecedented political and economic landscape.

Rep.  Israel takes audiences inside the corridors of power, where decisions are made about US-Israeli relations. Audiences will learn surprising lessons about how Congress   shapes policy; the challenges ahead for Washington and Jerusalem; and the importance of continued pro-Israel activism.  Called a “mensch with backbone” by Israel’s ambassador to the US and a “staunch hawk on Iran”, Rep. Israel inspires and motivates audiences to strengthen as well as smarten their activism.

In Congress, Israel was the recognized leader on the issue of professional military education: how we invest our warriors with the critical thinking skills they need; how we incentivize them to study foreign languages, cultural anthropology, negotiating with NGO’s, and more.  Israel argues that military hardware must be complemented by software- the intellectual rigor of a new generation of military leaders.  Israel’s lectured at West Point and the National Defense University, among others, and was the commencement speaker at the Naval War College (link).