In 2005, Georgia Trend, a prominent state business and political magazine, named Israel as one of its top 20 leaders of the past 20 years.
His father worked as an engineer at Robins Air Force Base and his mother was a teacher who helped veterans returning from World War II to earn their GEDs.
[1][2] In 1975, he made a sudden announcement to his family that he planned to run for a seat on the Macon City Council.
A Republican in Jimmy Carter's Georgia, Israel's run for city council seemed a long shot, but he won the seat.
Israel's success has often been attributed to the beginnings of the growth of the Reagan coalition in Georgia and the rest of the American South.
[1][4] Following his retirement from politics, Israel became president and CEO of the Potomac Corporation, a European venture capital firm.