Prominent Jewish Leaders Ditch the Democrats Over El-Sayed

Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign made casual antisemitism an effective component of his primary against Haley Stevens, but the toxicity of his politics has become a liability in the general election with a key part of the Democrat coalition: Michigan’s Jews. 

El-Sayed has flipped, spending the last several days distancing himself from his notoriously antisemitic and anti-American buddy Hasan Piker. Piker’s threats against Jewish Democrat state senator Jeremy Moss have raised eyebrows even within the Far Left.

El-Sayed has calculated he’s in trouble with enough Jewish voters that he’s made a half-baked attempt at contrition over rumors that Jewish Democrats may decide to throw support behind El-Sayed’s opponent, Mike Rogers. The notion that Jewish Democrats could vote Republican is a call-the-cops, burn-the-house-down emergency for Democrats given the decades-long support they’ve enjoyed from Michigan’s Jews.

Pundits have recently pondered the idea that Jewish Democrats might finally break with the party due to the growing emergence of socialism, radicalism, and Islamification, and an intense hatred for Jews, Israel, and America. 

Speaking in Birmingham to a room of Jewish Democrats over the weekend, El-Sayed apologized for saying “hurt people do hurt people” in the wake of the Temple Israel attack. One day earlier, El-Sayed spoke with Jewish attendees at the Democrat State convention where, according to witnesses, he also sought “forgiveness.” 

El-Sayed still hasn’t condemned or disavowed Piker’s endless cascade of American-hating rhetoric and celebratory comments around 9/11. Anyone paying attention knows El-Sayed both agrees with Piker and is afraid of him.

But his move to reach Jewish Democrats is an admission both he and his campaign see a major problem in the race’s home stretch.

Michigan Enjoyer spoke with Aaron Tobin, a prominent Jewish activist in Michigan who says he’s spoken to countless Jewish Democrats who’ve read the writing on the wall and have declared support for Mike Rogers.

“The Jewish Community in Michigan has caught on to El-Sayed’s hatred for them, all Jewish people in America, Jews in Israel, and the State of Israel” said Tobin. “It’s apparent to Jewish Americans that El-Sayed hatred towards Jews applies to American values that we hold dear: truth, justice, and the American way.”

Hannen Lis, a Michigander holding dual Israeli citizenship, has been a prominent Democrat megadonor for several years. Frustration could be heard in his voice as he lamented the emergence of casual antisemitism within the Democrat party. 

“Michigan Jewish Democrats are moderate and pragmatic. We are progressives who love America, but we have to draw the line on El-Sayed,” Lis said. “A good number of Jews vote blue no matter what, but many others are peeling off to vote for Mike Rogers.”

Lis voiced deep tension with the current direction of the Democrat Party and was pained by recent comments that our Jewish Attorney General Dana Nessel has made in recent days deprioritizing the safety and security of American Jews and the state of Israel in favor of the party’s needs after her much publicized vow not to attend the state convention due to threats of harassment. 

“I’m very proud of Nessel committing not to go to the convention. She stood up and I give credit to her,” said Lis as his voice grew weary. “At the end, she made a bizarre statement incorrectly using Queen Esther from the Hebrew Bible as a metaphor for her own personal sacrifice, but nobody’s perfect.”

Lis spoke with loving passion for the Democrat Party, his devotion to America, the founding principles of this nation, and the benefit Jews have been to the country and Democrat politics. But Lis now has thrown his financial support behind Rogers by hosting a fundraiser for the former Republican congressman. 

“I love America and I support Israel,” he said in a resolute tone that lingered long after our conversation ended. It wasn’t a declaration, but a challenge.