Short answer: Yes. Joseph "Joe" Lieberman, the former U.S. senator from Connecticut, was a lifelong and outspoken supporter of Israel, and he kept up that advocacy right up until his death in March 2024. Lieberman died on March 27, 2024, in New York City from complications following a fall, at age 82, so everything below is historical record, not a live, ongoing stance. As of August 2026, nothing has changed that record.
What Joseph Lieberman has actually said and done
- 1995: As a U.S. senator, Lieberman worked with a bipartisan group of colleagues on the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act, which called for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. He later described it as "the privilege of working in the U.S. Senate" on the bill, in an op-ed for Fox News.
- May 14, 2018: Lieberman attended the U.S. embassy opening ceremony in Jerusalem, the lone Democrat present, publicly applauding Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and move the embassy there, according to The Jerusalem Post.
- October 30, 2019: Lieberman gave the keynote address at the first Herzl Conference on Contemporary Zionism, held at the Herzl Center on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. He told the audience "I see storm clouds gathering" over American political support for Israel, pointing to rhetoric from some Democratic presidential candidates at the time, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
- August 2015 to March 2024: Lieberman chaired United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group focused on the Iranian nuclear threat and the danger it poses to Israel, serving as chairman from 2015 until his death, per his bio on United Against Nuclear Iran's own site.
- March 2024, hours before his death: Lieberman co-wrote a statement with attorney Alan Dershowitz backing Israel's military campaign against Hamas, writing that "Israel must be allowed to achieve its legitimate goal of disabling Hamas." Prime Minister Netanyahu disclosed this at Lieberman's memorial service, as reported by Israel National News and confirmed by The Jerusalem Post.
- March 27, 2024: Lieberman died in New York City at age 82 from complications following a fall, according to The Washington Post.
- July 24, 2024: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Washington to eulogize Lieberman in person, calling him "unwavering in his support of Israel" and one of the Jewish people's "most noble sons," reported by The Jerusalem Post and Israel National News.
Who Joseph Lieberman was
Joseph I. Lieberman (1942-2024) represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate from 1989 to 2013, first as a Democrat and later as an independent. In 2000 he became the first Jewish American on a major party's national ticket, running as Al Gore's vice-presidential candidate. He was Modern Orthodox, kept kosher and observed Shabbat throughout his Senate career, including walking miles to the Capitol rather than ride on Shabbat, and was widely regarded in Jewish media as a role model for observant Jews in public life. His support for Israel was not a late-career addition. He worked on Jerusalem embassy-relocation legislation as far back as 1995, welcomed the 2018 embassy move, warned publicly in 2019 about softening bipartisan support for Israel among younger Democrats, chaired the hawkish advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran from 2015 until his death, and was still writing in defense of Israel's Gaza campaign in his final hours. There is no credible record of Lieberman ever supporting a boycott of Israel or distancing himself from the country. The record moves in the opposite direction, toward more public advocacy in his final years.
The bottom line
Joseph Lieberman was consistently and publicly pro-Israel throughout his career, from his 1995 work on the Jerusalem Embassy Act through his chairmanship of United Against Nuclear Iran and his final public statement, co-written hours before his death, backing Israel's military campaign against Hamas. He died in March 2024, so all claims about him are now part of the historical record rather than ongoing activity, and that record is unambiguous.
Carry that legacy forward
Lieberman's decades of quiet, steady advocacy are a reminder that support for Israel does not need to be loud to be real. If his story moves you, our Support Israel collection offers everyday ways to show where you stand, from jewelry to apparel that keeps the connection visible.
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Last updated August 2026. We update these profiles as the record changes.
