Abdul El-Sayed overcame the largest single-race investment in AIPAC’s history, but pro-Israel centrists are straining to downplay his victory in Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed overcame a record $30 million in AIPAC spending to defeat pro-Israel candidate Haley Stevens in Michigan. The race was widely viewed as a referendum on the political influence of the Israel lobby.
Michigan polls show Abdul El-Sayed leading Haley Stevens in the latest battle between the Democratic Party establishment and the insurgent left, as voters reject corporate and lobby money, including from AIPAC, that aims to maintain the status quo.
Next week’s Michigan primary between Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens is a referendum on AIPAC’s influence within the Democratic Party.
Next Tuesday in Michigan, AIPAC will face a massive referendum on its power and influence.
The leading Democrats in Michigan’s important Senate race squared off this week in a contentious debate, with Israel front and center.
This was the week Israelis turned on the Israel lobby, but an AIPAC delegation to Israel showed that Democrats aren’t ready to cut ties just yet.
Some viewed AIPAC’s role in the Michigan Democratic Party primaries as a proxy war over the issue of Israel within the Democratic party, but the reality is a little more complicated.
Some viewed the Stevens/Levin race as a proxy war over the issue of Israel within the Democratic party, but the reality is a little more complicated.
After pro-Israel Rep. Haley Stevens beat fellow House member Andy Levin in Michigan’s 11th district this week, with almost $5 million worth of help from AIPAC’s superpac, the Israel lobby group declared that Stevens’s win “reflects mainstream Democratic views and demonstrates that being pro-Israel is both good policy and good politics!” But new polling shows that Democrats support BDS targeting Israel by 33-10; and a third of Dems say their Congressperson leans more toward Israel than they do — while only 3 percent say they lean too much toward Palestine.