Jewish El-Sayed Backers Include Dem Who Called Zionists

More than 700 Michigan Jewish voters signed onto a letter expressing support for Michigan Democrat Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed. “Some of us are enthusiastic supporters of El-Sayed,” the letter from Michigan Jews for Democracy reads. “Some of us have reservations: there are disagreements with El-Sayed on important issues, including aspects of his approach to Israel and the language used by some of his allies.” The letter, published Sept. 16, is from Jewish Michigan voters who come from a wide range of the political spectrum and “intend to vote for Dr.

Abdul El-Sayed for the United States Senate in 2026.” But the list contains the names of several controversial individuals, including a signee who compares Zionism to neo-Nazism, a progressive rabbi who describes Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide,” and a former staffer for Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

El-Sayed has a record of criticizing Israel, and has said Israel’s government is just as evil as Hamas. He has also called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a “war criminal” and has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide.” In response to the March 2026 Temple Israel attack in West Bloomfield Township, Mich., El-Sayed condemned both the attack and antisemitism, but added “hurt people hurt people,” which some Jewish voters interpreted as El-Sayed’s condoning of the attack.

El-Sayed, who is running against Republican Mike Rogers, has also spent considerable time campaigning with streamer Hasan Piker, a radical streamer who has said “Hamas is a thousand times better” than Israel, has called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” and has compared Zionists to Nazis.

At one point, he called a Jewish man a “bloodthirsty, violent pig dog.” Now, El-Sayed is receiving the backing of other radical individuals, many with similar views despite being Jewish themselves. Liano Sharon, a Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) officer-at-large and former Democratic National Committee member, signed onto the letter.

Sharon is also a MI Solidarity organizer and has a lengthy history of making anti-Zionist statements. In an April 2026 essay titled “All Proud Jews are Anti-Zionist,” Sharon wrote that “Zionists are neo-Nazis,” and made the argument that Zionism is inherently anti-Jewish.

Following the attack on Temple Israel, Sharon wrote the attack “was not an anti-Semitic attack,” but instead was “anti-Zionist.” Sharon described Rep. Haley Stevens as a “neo-Nazi Zionist” in an August post titled “Neo-Nazis Don’t Feel Safe in the MDP?” He defended criticism Stevens received throughout her campaign and celebrated that she was booed off a stage at the Democrats’ April Convention by pro-Palestinian activists.

Rabbi Alana Alpert, a progressive rabbi and founding director of Detroit Jews for Justice (DJJ), is a progressive Jewish organizer with a lengthy record of promoting leftist ideologies. DJJ is a Detroit-area progressive non-profit founded by Alpert and her synagogue, Congregation T’chiyah.

The group’s website says it aims to promote “racial and economic justice” to “queer and trans Jews, Jews by choice, Jews of color, disabled Jews, Jewish elders, Jewish youth, and Jewish allies.” Alpert has described Israel’s actions after Oct. 7, 2023 as a “genocide” and has encouraged her congregation to think similarly.

Michigan Public reported Alpert telling her congregation: “It is not enough to be a Jew against genocide. You must be a part of a Jewish community against genocide and for human rights.” In a 2023 speech , Alpert said: “the safety of our people is directly bound up with the safety of the Palestinian people, the only path to true safety is through solidarity with other oppressed peoples in a project of collective liberation.” She has frequently described antisemitism as a part of white supremacy, and her synagogue biography highlights her work on progressive issues, including “water access, health care, workers rights and police brutality.” Former Rep.

Rashida Tlaib staffer Lisa Tencer also signed onto the letter. Tencer is the executive director of DJJ, and has described herself as an “aspiring abolitionist.” Tencer has also worked with IfNotNow, an activist group of Jewish Americans that aims to “end U.S. support for Israel's apartheid system and demand equality, justice, and a thriving future for all Palestinians and Israelis.” Jessica “Decky” Alexander is the 5th vice chair of the MDP and chair of the Michigan Jewish Democrats.

Alexander, also a professor at Eastern Michigan University, signed onto the letter despite previously having expressed reservations about El-Sayed’s campaign rhetoric, particularly his criticism of AIPAC. “Is he blaming corporations or AIPAC for housing prices and what?

Because of gas prices? Because there’s a war? Is everything now the Jews’ fault?” Alexander told Jewish Telegraphic Agency in August. “I mean, I don’t think he thinks that, but I can see how that would be interpreted as such, and it makes me nervous.” Earlier in the summer, Alexander said she did not personally support El-Sayed, and following the primary, the Washington Post reported Alexander left an August meeting between El-Sayed and a small group of Michigan Jewish Democrats “in between hopeless and hopeful.” MDP has yet to endorse El-Sayed.

Eleanor Gamalski, former deputy director of DJJ and former staffer to Rep. Andy Levin (D.-MI.) also signed onto the letter supporting El-Sayed. In 2024, Gamalski organized a phone bank for the Michigan Uncommitted campaign that asked voters to avoid voting for President Joe Biden ahead of the 2024 primaries due to “his administration’s funding of genocidal war in Gaza.” At the time, Gamalski said the group hoped to “stop sending U.S. weapons and dollars to fund this genocide.” El-Sayed has not publicly acknowledged the letter, but has touted Jewish involvement in his campaign, including a “Jews for Abdul” initiative.

Rogers’ campaign, meanwhile, has seen many Michigan Democrats, many of them Jewish, rallying behind his campaign due to El-Sayed’s radical statements. “Abdul El-Sayed said, ‘hurt people hurt people’ when a terrorist attempted to blow up 140 Jewish kids,” Alyssa Brouillet, communications director for Mike Rogers, told Townhall. “His running mate Hasan Piker called Orthodox Jews “inbred,” insinuated Haley Stevens is a Nazi, and called for violence against a Jewish Democrat in the Michigan Senate.

A letter of support isn’t enough to erase his vile and antisemitic roots, no matter who signs it.” Rogers recently received the endorsement of nearly 500 Jewish Democrat and Independent Michigan voters. “Many of us have been fiercely supportive of Democratic candidates and principles,” the letter reads. “All of us have felt threatened and alienated by the politics and allies embraced by Abdul El-Sayed, which has included demonization of Jews, equivocation on terrorism, exclusion of Jewish Americans from public life, and expression of implacable hatred of the world’s only Jewish nation.” El-Sayed’s campaign did not respond for comment.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress. Help Townhall continue to report on the Democrats’ radicalism and inform voters as our nation faces a crossroads.