Jewish Democrats concerned about El-Sayed using tropes, rejecting Israel as Jewish state

Seventeen Michigan Jewish Democratic elected officials, party leaders, and activists have signed on to Nonnegotiable Michigan, a campaign urging U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to affirm five commitments on Jewish safety and Israel, the group said in a Sept. 29 press release.

“This campaign is not about Israel policy, weapons, wars, or foreign aid,” the release said. “Nonnegotiable is about the safety and belonging of American Jews – including Zionist Jews – in Michigan, across America and in the Democratic Party.”

The commitments are that Jewish safety, including that of Zionist Jews, is nonnegotiable, as are Jews’ right to define their own identities, Jewish sovereignty in Israel, Jews’ full participation in American political life, and an affirmative vision for the Middle East. 

Rabbis, cantors, and lay leaders launched the campaign in September with support from the Zioness Action Fund, a liberal Jewish advocacy group. The release says the El-Sayed campaign has not publicly affirmed the commitments and accuses him of rhetoric that invokes anti-Jewish tropes and of rejecting Israel as a Jewish state. The campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Michigan Public in September.

The release describes El-Sayed as having called Israelis “bloodthirsty.” His words, as reported by Jewish Insider from an MS NOW appearance the day after the Aug. 4 primary, were: “I understand that Netanyahu is a big reason why they’ve gotten so aggressive and frankly so bloodthirsty under his reign.” The outlet said “they” referred to Israel and its government. Bridge Michigan reported in August that he has not given a definitive answer on whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state.

The Blaze, a conservative outlet, reported Oct. 7 on the campaign and on other Democratic skepticism of El-Sayed. Greg Manz, the Michigan Republican Party’s senior communications director, told the outlet, “The exodus of Jewish and black Democrats from Conman Abdul El-Sayed’s camp exposes his crumbling coalition.” 

The Blaze’s examples included a Sept. 26 video in which Rep. Hillary Scholten, who represents western Michigan, said the campaign still has work to do to connect with the Black community, and a clip of Black voters who said they did not know him. The outlet said Scholten and the campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Black Democratic organizations and leaders have, however, publicly endorsed him. The Congressional Black Caucus PAC announced its endorsement Sept. 9. 

“Dr. El-Sayed helped increase healthcare access and outcomes for thousands of Black Michiganders,” said its chair, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, according to the campaign’s release.

The Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus endorsed El-Sayed in August after the primary. Its chair, Keith Williams, who had backed Rep. Haley Stevens in the primary, wrote on Facebook that “we cannot spend months leading into November fighting yesterday’s primary,” Bridge Michigan reported. Horace Sheffield III, a Detroit pastor and head of the Detroit Association of Black Organizations, endorsed him in November 2025, saying, “We can ill afford to have anyone other [than] Abdul El-Sayed in the US Senate to protect us.”

El-Sayed and Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee, are set to face off at 7 p.m. ET Oct. 8 in a debate broadcast from the studios of WOOD TV8, a Grand Rapids television station. 

The latest polls show a very tight race, with a recent Fox News poll showing likely voters going 50% toward El-Sayed and 49% for Rogers. Michigan is a state that is notoriously hard to predict, with the outcome often depending on a few thousand votes.