Mazi Melesa Pilip: A fantastic Republican to replace George Santos

A special election will be held in New York's 3rd Congressional District on Feb. 13 to replace George Santos, world-class conman, who Republicans recently expelled on ethics charges.

Republicans have picked a uniquely exciting candidate to run for this now open seat in Mazi Melesa Pilip.

Pilip is a Black Orthodox Jew and a mother of seven children who arrived to Israel at age 12 from Ethiopia, grew up there, served as a paratrooper in the Israel Defense Forces and continued on to earn a degree in occupational therapy at Haifa University, where she met her husband, and then earned a master's in diplomacy and security at Tel Aviv University.

Her husband immigrated to Israel from Ukraine, and subsequently they moved to the U.S. where he continued his medical studies and now works as a cardiologist.

With five children and pregnant with twins, she ran two years ago for a seat in the Nassau County Legislature, won the seat — defeating a Democrat incumbent — and then was reelected, winning 60% of the vote.

Pilip effervesces her belief in the "American dream" and the importance to keep government limited, keep taxes low and fight crime. As an immigrant, she is particularly passionate about this issue and the importance to control our border.

She will run against Democrat Tom Suozzi, who held the seat for three terms before leaving in 2022 to enter the race for New York governor.

In an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Today, Pilip explained that she became motivated to enter American politics when flare-ups with Hamas produced antisemitism endangering her children to walk freely and openly as Jews in their neighborhood in New York.

"My story is the story of America and Israel together. Israel is a diverse state, there is not just one color, and in the U.S., any dream can become reality. ... This is my second immigration. I had to learn culture and a new language twice. It wasn't easy for me."

Pilip is a poster child who speaks forcefully, disabusing distortions and ignorance about Israel being spread, particularly on university campuses.

Recently, for instance, a program was held at UCLA labeled as an "Emergency Teach-In on the Crisis in Palestine". One of the UCLA professors depicted Israel as a "colonial power driven by an exclusionary racial ideology."

Just looking at this impressive Black Ethiopian Jewish woman, who grew up in Israel, who speaks warmly about her love for and the beauty of the country where she grew up, says everything about the absurdity of such outrageous allegations.

I recall on my own first trip to Israel, noting the full spectrum of color in the population — white, brown, black.

Israel literally was founded as an ingathering of Jews dispersed in the four corners of the globe.

The parents and grandparents of today's Israelis came from Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, North America, Latin America, North Africa and Asia.

Pilip arrived to Israel as part of Operation Solomon in 1991 in which, over the course of 36 hours, Israel airlifted over 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel out of concern for their safety as result of political instability in Ethiopia.

There is now an estimated more than 160,000 Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

Around the same time, 1990-91, after considerable pressure, the Soviet Union released over 300,000 Jews to leave for Israel.

How Jews who returned to their historic homeland from all over the globe, after so many years of oppression, persecution and murder, could be accused of either racism or colonialism should give everyone great pause regarding what is happening on our college campuses.

Meanwhile, Mazi Melesa Pilip is a presence Republicans and all Americans need in the U.S. Congress.

Let's hope and pray that in February she will be adding her important voice to those on Capitol Hill.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education.