Michigan Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed unequivocally answered “yes” when asked whether “Palestine” has a right to exist, but when asked about Israel’s right to exist, he answered that certain conditions had to be met.
The leftist Democrat answered “yes” to the question about “Palestine” without hesitation in a “60 Minutes” interview with Ross Douthat that aired Sunday night. But when Douthat flipped the question to the Jewish state, El-Sayed paused before offering a more complicated answer.
“Yes, if there is a shared understanding,” El-Sayed replied.
“Wait, you said —” Douthat began before El-Sayed cut him off.
“Let me just, let me just … I believe, and this is the problem with this debate, we start from where we sit rather than start from principles. … If the Palestinian people decide — and the Israeli people decide — that they want two states for two people, and they decide that on equal terms, I’m for it. If they decide that they want one state shared in a different way, I’m for that.”
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It’s hardly the first time that El-Sayed has tied himself in knots over the question.
Back in May, Jewish Insider obtained a recording from a “Jews for Abdul” event in Pontiac, Michigan, where El-Sayed said he “struggles” with being asked whether Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. Rather than answer, he challenged the small crowd to explain how that idea matched with American liberal values. He also accused Israel of apartheid in Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.
The Bernie Sanders-backed candidate has drawn heat for other remarks as well. Critics slammed his “hurt people hurt people” remark after a truck rammed into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, along with his campaign appearances with radical streamer Hasan Piker. Another leaked recording captured him telling staff to stay quiet about the U.S.-Israeli strike that killed Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, so as not to upset Dearborn voters.
El-Sayed’s ties to communist streamer Piker is part of what led to his former Democrat primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), shocking Democrats and endorsing Republican nominee Mike Rogers on Sunday.
In October, El-Sayed brushed off a question from NewsNation’s Leland Vittert about whether Israel or Iran poses the bigger threat to America, calling it “a dumb question.” He blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for pushing the United States into war with Iran and complained about American tax dollars flowing to foreign countries. His Republican opponent Mike Rogers, a former House Intelligence Committee chairman, noted that El-Sayed was silent on the October 7 anniversary.
El-Sayed also sparred with Fox News’ Bret Baier over a 2012 letter he signed backing former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. The letter urged Morsi to swiftly purge the media and police. El-Sayed accused Baier of questioning his loyalty over his faith, and told the veteran anchor to “be a journalist.”
“I have never been a member of the Muslim Brotherhood,” El-Sayed insisted, calling Republican attacks on his religion “sad and beneath” Rogers and President Trump.
El-Sayed’s half-sister, a University of Chicago professor, posted in 2012 that their family had long been Muslim Brotherhood. His mother once worked for a charity later designated for backing terrorist groups. She was never charged.
Republican senators, including Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT), have raised concerns about El-Sayed getting access to classified intelligence.
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