“It is about Dr. El-Sayed, and it’s also about a bigger issue going on in our politics right now. I think the American Jewish community is feeling squeezed from both sides of the political spectrum,” Rabbi Josh Whinston, one of more than a dozen rabbis leading the petition, said in an interview with CBS News.
El-Sayed, a former Michigan health official, won the Democratic nomination last month, after a heated primary that centered in part on his outspoken criticism of the Israeli government and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. El-Sayed has previously said that criticism of both does not mean criticism of Jewish people, telling NBC News last month, “I love and revere Judaism and the Jewish people. I believe they are a light unto the world … but they are not the same as AIPAC and Israel.”
Now, the focus has turned to El-Sayed’s matchup in November against former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers, who narrowly lost to Sen. Elissa Slotkin in the 2024 race for Michigan’s other Senate seat. But as Rogers, who ran unopposed this cycle, has been focused for months on the general election, El-Sayed is still working to unite Democrats behind his candidacy.
El-Sayed ran on a left-wing platform, with endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while his opponent in the primary — Rep. Haley Stevens — had the backing of more moderate Democrats and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. El-Sayed hammered Stevens for receiving an influx of funding from pro-Israel groups, including over $30 million in outside spending from a group funded by AIPAC.
But El-Sayed has faced criticism for campaigning during the Democratic primary with controversial left-wing podcaster Hasan Piker, a vehement critic of Israel whose rhetoric on the issue has drawn criticism. El-Sayed also drew pushback when he said that “hurt people hurt people” in response to a March attack on a Detroit-area synagogue, which he condemned. El-Sayed later apologized for the comments in August while addressing the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus at a party convention.
The backers of the petition, who represent around 40,000 Jewish Michiganders, write that for “generations, the vast majority of the American Jewish community has proudly voted for, organized with, donated to, and marched in support of the Democratic Party.”
“American Jews now feel forced to fight for the party they long claimed as their political home,” it says.
The petition, which doesn’t explicitly mention El-Sayed, calls on anyone seeking the support of Michigan’s Jewish community to affirm what it calls five nonnegotiables: Jewish safety, the right of Jewish individuals to define their own identities, Jewish sovereignty in Israel, welcoming Jewish Michiganders’ full participation in American political life and an “affirmative vision” for a better future for the Middle East.
“Every constituency must occasionally remind its party that support is earned, not owed,” the petition says. “This is a good faith effort to make our needs unmistakably clear, and to invite any candidate seeking public office — now or in the future — to engage, listen, learn, and grow. We have the right to know, plainly, if those seeking our vote are willing to meet our baseline needs.”
Whinston said as a Jewish leader, he “needed to say something” for the sake of the Jewish community and for the U.S. more broadly, to “present some clear lines.”
“When a marginalized community feels like it has no political home anymore, that people are starting to feel that way — that is serious,” he said. “Jews don’t want to be there. We don’t want to be in that position. And I am pleading with Dr. El-Sayed to help us be in coalition with him broadly. That’s what we want from the Democratic Party.”
Asked for a response, the El-Sayed campaign pointed to several closed-door meetings with prominent Jewish organizations and rabbis in recent weeks, his attendance at the annual Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus Summer Simcha, and his repeated conversations with Slotkin, who is Jewish.
After Piker drew criticism from Democrats in August after arguing some Jewish Americans’ support for Israel is “making antisemitism worse,” El-Sayed looked to create distance from the streamer and said “nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople.”
“My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters. Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms. And I stand against any rhetoric that puts the community at risk,” El-Sayed added in last month’s statement.
But Whinston said on a call with reporters on Tuesday that a recent apology from El-Sayed “did not go far enough.” He also noted that El-Sayed has reached out to him personally and the two have spoken. Whinston told CBS News he hopes to speak with El-Sayed again, but there are currently no plans to do so.
“He’s trying to figure out a way, and I want to figure out a way to help him figure out a way to continue to move the needle in ways that will be meaningful for the Jewish community,” Whinston said. “I think he’s trying to figure it out, but he hasn’t figured it out yet.”
Whinston acknowledged that El-Sayed has condemned antisemitism, but argued that “he then cannot use antisemitic tropes in criticizing the state of Israel.” He pointed specifically to comments El-Sayed made after his primary victory regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the country being “bloodthirsty under his reign.”
“Countless Jews have died for nearly 1,000 years because we’ve been called bloodthirsty, because we’ve been accused of what is called a blood libel,” Whinston said. “Harkening to that puts us in danger. And when Dr. El-Sayed says that in the morning, and then says in the evening he cares about Jewish safety, I say, no. Those things are worlds apart from each other.”
Rabbi Aaron Starr, the president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis, told reporters that “we have welcomed Dr. El-Sayed’s attempts at trying to bridge between where he was and where he is,” adding that “we hope that there will be another bridge between where he is now and where he can go in the future.”
“Frankly, I hope that Dr. El-Sayed, if he is elected to be our senator, or if Congressman Rogers is elected to be our senator, that they will stand up and that they will condemn violent rhetoric against the Jewish people, violent rhetoric against Israel and its right to exist,” Starr said. “That’s what we’re asking for. We’re asking for someone to step up and be an ally to work toward safety and security and a better life for all Michiganders, including Jewish Michiganders.”
The dynamic comes as the Michigan Senate race could be key to determining which party secures control of the upper chamber. With 53 Republicans, Democrats would need to win four seats while defending seats in a handful of key races to take the majority. Michigan last elected a Republican to the Senate in 1994, and President Trump won the state by less than two points in 2024. But the race, which opened up after Democratic Sen. Gary Peters opted not to seek reelection, is considered among the most competitive this cycle.
Starr said that many in his congregation are undecided about how they will vote in November, saying “we’re going to be listening to every word he says, and we’ll be listening to every word that Congressman Rogers says as well.”
Even Whinston, whose congregation is situated in what he called the “lefty town” of Ann Arbor, said he’s had many congregants come to him and say “Rabbi, I don’t know what I’m going to do in November,” adding that many constituents feel “politically homeless.”
“Lots of people are feeling that way, and we don’t want to be,” Whinston said. “We want to be at the table, and we want his campaign and the Democratic Party to help get us to the table.”
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