The Shift: Israel front and center as Michigan Senate race narrows

Last week, State Sen. Mallory McMorrow announced she was suspending her campaign for the Senate, narrowing the race to Rep. Haley Stevens and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed.

Once again, Israel is front and center in this race. Stevens is a stalwart supporter of the country and has taken millions from AIPAC, whereas El-Sayed has made Palestinian human rights a major part of his campaign.

This week, the two candidates squared off in a debate.

As Politico points out, Stevens received a lifeline during the event from an ironic source, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had just criticized her in a CNN interview for saying that he had made Jewish people unsafe.

“It is very clear that Mr. Netanyahu has not made us safer, has not brought us closer to peace. And he’s endangered Jews here in America and around the world,” she reiterated during the debate. “This is why he was just trashing me today on CNN,” Stevens said when asked about the U.S.’ role in the Israel-Hamas conflict. “I am not afraid of bullies. I am not afraid to stand up. And I continue to stand up for humanitarian aid, for the U.S. to work with the countries in the region and get aid into Gaza.”

Stevens’s position reflects the same rhetorical shift that we’ve seen from many pro-Israel lawmakers who have had to modify their public positions on the issue as Israel’s reputation among Democratic voters continues to crater.

“I do not think that AIPAC should unconditionally support the Israeli government, and I’ve made that very clear to them,” Rep. Dan Goldman told a debate audience last month. “I do think that AIPAC has some real problems and is harmful in many ways.” Of course, Goldman ultimately lost, which suggests this kind of message isn’t exactly resonating. In a recent interview with CNN, Goldman admits that Israel cost him the primary.

Like Goldman, Stevens has an Israel problem, and the Lobby’s spending on the race has only highlighted it.

In May, it was revealed that a mysterious group connected to pro-Israel spending, the Center for Democratic Priorities Inc., had poured $5.3 million into the race. The group bought its airtime through Waterfront Strategies, a firm that’s worked with AIPAC. Recall that the ADL and other pro-Israel organizations recently attacked NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani as antisemitic for rightly referring to this kind of stuff as “dark money.”

A new ad from AIPAC’s super PAC, the United Democracy Project, celebrates Stevens for allegedly standing up to Trump’s immigration policies, despite the fact that she voted in favor of ICE funding. Per usual, there’s vast hypocrisy at work here. AIPAC spent over $2 million attacking former Rep. Tom Malinowski for voting in favor of the same bill.

El-Sayed continues to draw attention to these issues.

During the debate, he suggested that Netanyahu had purposely criticized Stevens to boost her chance of winning.

“I don’t think Benjamin Netanyahu is attacking her to actually attack her,” he told the audience. “I think he’s attacking her to try and steer away the stink of how staunchly she stands for their policy.”

“If Congresswoman Stevens makes it or Mike Rogers wins, either way, Israel will win,” he added, referencing the GOP nominee for the seat. “AIPAC is perfectly fine with either of my two opponents, because they know that they will have a comfortable, reliable vote.”

Tlaib Lebanon vote

At the end of June, the House voted against a War Powers resolution to remove the United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Lebanon that had not been authorized by Congress for the second time.

The bill had been introduced by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).

“Thousands of families in our district with strong ties to Lebanon are living through immense pain,” said Tlaib when she introduced the resolution. “Many have lost loved ones, watched their grandparent’s towns and villages be completely destroyed, and seen relatives uprooted from their homes not knowing if they will ever be able to return. We are witnessing the same genocidal playbook used against Palestinians in Gaza, now in Lebanon. Israeli leaders are openly celebrating it. This ethnic cleansing campaign is only possible because of U.S. support, funded by our tax dollars. We must act now to stop these crimes against humanity and illegal invasion of Lebanon.”

22 Democratic House members joined the GOP to vote against the measure.

“The vote underscores a widening divide among progressive and moderate Democrats on Israel, a shift from decades of stalwart backing for the ally,” noted Politico. “The split has occurred amid furor over Israel’s military conduct in Gaza, Lebanon and in the Iran war. Democrats are also in a politically tricky spot with the House set to vote on an amendment to State Department funding legislation that would slash over $3 billion in security assistance for Israel.”

However, the vote marked a notable Democratic shift in U.S. involvement in Lebanon.

The previous attempt to pass the resolution, which was voted on on June 4, was 324–92. This one was 189-235.

“Democrats have been pretty unified about speaking out against the killing of innocents and all of the harm by the Iran war, but there has been less vocal outrage about the mass killing and occupation in Lebanon,” Just Foreign Policy executive director Erik Sperling told The Intercept. “This is just an important signal that Democrats are aware of the way the Lebanon war is a humanitarian crisis and is the key roadblock to ending this war and delivering the peace that Americans are demanding.”

“Tlaib is rightly trying to find a way to remove American support for Israel’s invasion, not to reframe the American view of Lebanon to one that would be more constructive,” wrote Mitchell Plitnick, in a piece on Tlaib’s efforts published at Mondoweiss last month. “That is a longer battle, one which this resolution could possibly help with.”

“Both the Trump administration and Democratic leadership are opposed to that approach and want to see Hezbollah destroyed and, if possible, expunged from the Lebanese government,” he added. Until that approach changes, Tlaib’s effort to limit American interference is the best we can hope for.”