Known to live commensally on and within humans, A. israelii is an opportunistic pathogen and a cause of actinomycosis.

[2] It was named after the German surgeon James Israel (1848–1926), who studied the organism for the first time in 1878.

[6] Infection is established first by a breach of the mucosal barrier during various procedures (dental, gastrointestinal), aspiration, or pathologies such as diverticulitis.

This is characterized by slow, contiguous growth that ignores tissue planes and forms a sinus tract that can spontaneously heal and recur, leading to a densely fibrotic lesion.

Both a sodium hypochlorite solution and calcium hydroxide can be highly effective in killing A. israelii when it has caused infection in the mouth.