Abdul el Sayed faces Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday. Just one week ago, the two squared off in their final debate before the primary election. You might have expected local and state issues to dominate. El Sayed saw to it that they did not.
He was asked how he would make life more affordable for Michigan residents. His answer: He doesn’t take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and will “make sure that, rather than sending your money somewhere else to drop bombs on other people and their kids, we can keep that money here at home.” Having already rerouted the affordability question to Israel, he pressed on, reminding the audience that Stevens recently voted against an amendment to block military aid to Israel. The reason for her vote, in his telling? “That is the pro quo that comes with the quid of $30 million spent by AIPAC.”
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Asked whether he profited from his podcast appearances, he pivoted again: “I’m more concerned about the fact that … we’re fighting a war that has cost billions of dollars that has been pushed by the government of a foreign country.” Israel, again.
What of his views on improving Michigan’s public schools? He allowed himself a sentence on the subject before returning to the Jewish state. “We are being robbed. The money that we should have to invest in our schools is being sent to foreign governments to destroy other people’s schools. … That is exactly what AIPAC wants.” More than merely shifting the conversation to Israel, el Sayed blames the Jewish state for domestic problems.
None of these questions invited a discussion about the Middle East. Yet, again and again, el Sayed steered the conversation back to Israel.
The debate reinforced a broader pattern in el Sayed’s candidacy. Opposition to Israel is the lens through which he frames nearly every political question. He has previously said that he “struggle[s]” with whether Israel should exist, called the Israeli government “evil” like Hamas, and accused it of genocide. He has also suggested that no reason other than money could drive someone to support Israel: “Not if you’re a Democrat and you believe in human rights,” he said recently on CNN.
El Sayed is not an outlier in today’s Democratic Party. He is the norm. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently picked a fight with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Colorado congressional candidate Melat Kiros, recently victorious in her district’s Democratic primary, singled out AIPAC in her victory speech and said that one of her primary goals in office is to “end the genocide in Palestine.” Adam Hamawy, the winner of the Democratic primary in New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District, declared that “there is no such thing as progressive except for Palestine.” For an increasingly vocal faction of the party, Israel has eclipsed nearly every other issue.
Foreign policy is part of a senator’s portfolio, though the same cannot be said for a mayor like Mamdani. So, it is not surprising that the Middle East was litigated on the debate stage. Productive discussion is healthy, particularly as the conflict with Iran continues, and a new Gaza peace plan has just been announced. But it is a different story when every domestic question becomes an occasion to change the subject to Israel.
Alexandra Orbuch Horowitz is a New York City-based writer.
