Who Is Mazi Melesa Pilip? What To Know About The Long Island GOP’s Candidate For George Santos’ Seat.

New York Republicans tapped Mazi Melesa Pilip, an Ethiopian-born Israeli military veteran currently serving in the Nassau County Legislature, to run for George Santos’ former House seat in a special election after his expulsion earlier this month.

Pilip was born in Ethiopia, but fled to Israel at age 12 during Operation Solomon, one of three Israeli operations that airlifted most of Ethiopia’s large Jewish population out of the country during a military dictatorship, the Forward reported in 2021.

She served in the Israeli Defense Forces, where she was in the Paratroopers Brigade, before emigrating to the United States in 2005.

Pilip was first elected to the Nassau County Legislature in 2021, running on a platform of pausing new taxes, increasing police patrols and stopping the construction of new high-rise apartment buildings in her suburban Long Island district, including Great Neck and Mineola.