Jewish Dems in Michigan question place in party

Jewish Democrats in Michigan are facing a moment of reckoning in the Democratic Party, as they grapple with a Senate nominee who has alienated some Jewish voters and with broader questions about their place in the party amid a rise in antisemitism.

Progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed’s primary victory over moderate Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Mich.) earlier this month has thrust those questions into the national spotlight, with some Jewish Democrats openly wrestling with whether to back their party’s nominee despite having reservations about his rhetoric on Israel and response to recent antisemitic incidents. 

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), one of the state’s top Jewish elected officials, described some of those concerns in a recent interview with The Atlantic’s David Frum, saying many Michigan Jews feel increasingly unwelcome in their party and cast aside because of their belief that Israel has a right to exist.

“And so for a lot of us, you know, we feel really isolated. Like, do we have a home in the Democratic Party anymore?” Nessel said in the podcast released Wednesday.

Nessel was absent from the state party’s nominating convention on Saturday, announcing ahead of time that she would skip the gathering after a spring convention drew attendees who chased and shouted at Jewish and pro-Israel Democrats, sometimes preventing them from speaking. 

She also said she feared the presence of five members of the state’s Democratic Party who had been criminally indicted with acts of vandalism, terrorism, harassment and intimidation against the Jewish Federation of Detroit and elected Jewish officials in their homes. The attorney general said the state party “seemingly are refusing to even suspend their membership to allow them to come to convention.”

“How are you supposed to feel, if you are an elected person, and who is a Democrat in Michigan, and you want to go to the convention, and you know those people are going to be there?” Nessel said on the podcast.

A spokesperson from the Michigan Democratic Party told The Hill on Sunday that “the party asked the individuals under criminal indictment not to attend the convention and they complied.”

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel touted the unity on display at the convention on Saturday and said the party is taking the concerns of Jewish Democrats seriously.

“As we saw at yesterday’s convention, Michigan Democrats are united heading into this election, and that includes a real, sustained commitment to earning the support of Jewish voters across our state,” Hertel said in a statement Sunday. 

“We are committed to ensuring Democrats from every community feel safe and welcome within our party, including Jewish members, and that’s why we are taking seriously concerns Jewish Democrats have raised about antisemitism and safety, expanding regular dialogue with Jewish community leaders and the Jewish Caucus, and ensuring our candidates are showing up directly in Jewish communities across Michigan. We........

© The Hill