From 1878-1882, Israel studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. From 1882-1885, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Munich with Johann Caspar Herterich and Otto Seitz.

Like many of his contemporaries of the day, in 1885, he undertook an an Oriental journey. His travels took him through the Balkans, Turkey, Palestine and Egypt. Along the way, Israel made a multitude of sketches which he would later transform into paintings in his Munich studio.

He was a member of the Munchner Fein- und Kleinmaler - The Munich Fine and Small Artists Group. Between 1893 and 1899, he exhibited his works at exhibitions in Vienna, Budapest and the Munich Glass Palace. He is best known today for his highly sought after, extremely fine and detailed paintings of Arab genre. Sadly, Daniel Israel spent the last two years of his life in a Viennese sanatorium for the mentally insane, where he died at the age of 41.