Anti-Israel ad blames US aid to Israel for high grocery prices in contentious Michigan Senate race

A political ad supporting Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan has sparked controversy by blaming U.S. military assistance to Israel for the rising cost of groceries, prompting El-Sayed’s campaign to distance itself from the video.

The ad, released this week by Rebellion PAC, an organization associated with commentator Cenk Uygur of “The Young Turks,” depicts a working-class couple struggling to decide what they can afford at a grocery store. The woman suggests returning a carton of eggs to the shelf because "We have to set that $7 aside for killing Palestinians."

The man appears surprised, pointing out that the United States already provides Israel with $4 billion in annual military assistance. The woman responds, "Yeah, and now we're giving them another $26 billion. Do you know how much that is per American taxpayer? It's like $161 per person. Apparently it's costing us a lot of money to drop bombs on Gaza."

"It's terrible,” he replies, before asking, “Don't they get universal healthcare too?"

"Yeah, they do. We're paying for that too, probably," the woman responds, suggesting that they may also need to return the bananas to the shelf.

The scene ends with the man angrily asking, "Why the f*** do we have to pay for all of this?"

The video then shifts to a political message targeting El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. A narrator asks, "Why does Mike Rogers care so much about what Israelis want and so little about what you want?" before declaring that El-Sayed "is for you."

El-Sayed’s campaign issued a statement Monday distancing itself from the ad, saying it was not affiliated with the campaign. One local commentator in Detroit criticized the video but argued that it had “merely said out in the open what the campaign leadership very obviously talks about amongst themselves”.

U.S. military assistance to Israel has become an increasingly contentious issue in American politics, particularly since the outbreak of the war following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.

Under a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed in 2016, the United States committed to providing Israel with $3.8 billion annually in military assistance through 2028. The funding is primarily intended for military equipment, supplies and services, much of which must be purchased from American defense companies.

In April 2024, Congress approved a supplemental funding package worth approximately $26 billion related to Israel and the wider regional conflict. The package included additional military assistance for Israel, as well as funding for other regional security and humanitarian needs.

The ad’s suggestion that aid to Israel is a major driver of American household costs has become part of the broader debate over foreign assistance and domestic spending. U.S. military aid to Israel represents a small fraction of federal spending, while much of the assistance supports purchases from American defense manufacturers.

The issue has become a point of contention in Michigan’s Senate race, which pits El-Sayed against Rogers, a former Republican congressman. Debate over U.S. support for Israel has also featured in other congressional contests, with candidates from both major parties addressing questions about military assistance, the war in Gaza and Washington’s relationship with Jerusalem.

Voters will head to the polls on Nov. 3, with early voting already underway in many communities. The Michigan race is among the contests that could help determine control of the U.S. Senate.