Michigan Democratic Senate nominee says Israel ‘is actually not our friend’

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed sharply criticized the U.S.-Israel relationship during an interview with ABC News on Monday, declaring, “An ally that takes your money to push you into wars you shouldn’t be fighting is not an ally.”

El-Sayed went on to compare Israel to a friend who “keeps bumming off [your kids’ money] and then talks about them behind their back and gets them into fights with their other friends.”

He asked what advice a parent would give a child in that situation, answering, “Maybe that’s not actually your friend.”

“I think it’s time for us to realize that Israel is actually not our friend,” he concluded.

The remarks come as El-Sayed faces scrutiny over his positions on Israel and terrorism, with some Jewish Democrats expressing concern about his candidacy ahead of the Senate election.

His comments have also drawn attention to the broader debate within the Democratic Party over antisemitism, support for Israel and the political priorities of Jewish voters.

Last week, a report linked El-Sayed’s sister-in-law, Miriam Jukaku, to a federal lawsuit involving the terrorist watchlist during the Obama administration.

In a Fox News interview on Sunday, El-Sayed criticized the watchlist system, saying, "You've got this system where folks are guilty until proven innocent because they've got different kinds of names, because of the infrastructure that people like [Michigan Republican Senate candidate] Mike Rogers set up.”

Questions have been raised about alleged connections between El-Sayed’s family members and the Muslim Brotherhood, citing social media posts by his sister, a professor at the University of Chicago, that reportedly discuss such ties.

When asked in a recent interview whether he had any such connections himself, El-Sayed responded “no,” and the interviewer did not pursue the question further.

Meanwhile, Republican Jewish Coalition CEO Matt Brooks has criticized El-Sayed over his response to a terrorist attack targeting Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, in March.

Earlier this month, on the third anniversary of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that began the Swords of Iron War, Brooks announced a $2 million get-out-the-vote campaign targeting Michigan’s Jewish community.

"It is on this solemn day that we are reminded precisely why antisemitic violence can never be excused; the RJC Victory Fund is launching a $2 million dollar GOTV campaign across Michigan's Jewish community, after Abdul El-Sayed made excuses for the Hezbollah-inspired terrorist who attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield this past March," Brooks said.

"We saw the smoke billowing from Temple Israel after the terrorist drove his car filled with explosives into a synagogue while Jewish schoolchildren played inside, and watched as Abdul El-Sayed said, 'hurt people hurt people.' A complete disgrace, and totally disqualifying to be Michigan’s next United States Senator,” Brooks asserted.

The political implications of El-Sayed’s stance were also discussed Monday by New York Times national reporter Jeremy Peters, who told MS NOW that some traditionally Democratic Jewish voters in the Detroit suburbs are considering voting Republican.

“One of the factors that is really worth paying closer attention to is the number of Democrats, lifelong Jewish Democrats, especially in the Detroit suburbs, who are saying for the first time in their lives they’re voting Republican. That’s a big deal,” Peters said.

“I don’t know of any other marquee race in the country where the Republican candidate is converting Democrats," he continued, "and really quite striking that there are Democrats who are so concerned about their party’s nominee that they are willing to vote for the candidate aligned with Donald Trump.”

Jewish organizations in Michigan and nationally have also called on the Democratic Party to commit to a set of “nonnegotiable” principles to protect Jewish Americans amid rising antisemitism. Some community leaders have linked their concerns to anti-Israel rhetoric from Democratic politicians, including El-Sayed and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.