Mediaסטיבן סוטלוף

Steven Joel Sotloff

Steven Sotloff was an American-Israeli journalist who reported on the Arab Spring and was kidnapped and killed by ISIS in 2014.

1983 to 2014Reporting on the Arab SpringReporting on the Benghazi attackHis kidnapping and killing by ISIS

Born: 11 May 1983, Miami
Died: 2 September 2014, Syrian Desert
Occupation: journalist
Education: University of Central Florida, Reichman University, Kimball Union Academy

Steven Joel Sotloff was born in 1983 in Miami

Sotloff was born in Miami in 1983 to Arthur and Shirley Sotloff, and grew up in the suburb of Pinecrest. He was a grandson of Holocaust survivors. He had a sister, Lauren.

He studied journalism at the University of Central Florida from 2002 to 2004 but did not finish. After a Birthright trip he moved to Israel and studied government and counter-terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya from 2005 to 2008. He held both American and Israeli citizenship and studied Arabic in Yemen.

His career began during the Arab Spring. He wrote for Time, Foreign Policy, The Jerusalem Report and other outlets, and appeared on CNN and Fox News. He reported from Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Libya and Bahrain, including on the 2012 attack on the US compound in Benghazi.

On August 4, 2013, he was kidnapped near Aleppo after crossing into Syria from Turkey, and was thought to be held in Raqqa. His Jewish background and Israeli citizenship were kept secret during his captivity. On September 2, 2014, ISIS released a video of his beheading.