Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel told a gathering of Jewish Democrats that they have a “moral imperative” to place the world’s needs above “our own survival” when voting in November.
Nessel, a Jewish Democrat who has emerged as one of the party’s most prominent critics of its handling of antisemitism and Israel, made the remarks Sunday at the Michigan Democratic Party’s Jewish Caucus’ annual “Summer Simcha” in Birmingham, where she was honored.
Members of the media were barred from the gathering, but the Detroit News obtained a recording of her remarks.
“Come November, what do your Jewish values tell you to do?” Nessel asked the audience. “It’s so easy to hate people right now, especially other Democrats who seem to have thrown us under the bus, despite our lifelong contributions to our party.”
“We have a moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest and, yes, even our own survival,” she continued.
Nessel then invoked the biblical story of Queen Esther, who she said was willing to sacrifice her own life to save the Jewish people.
“It is perhaps up to us now to follow in her path and sacrifice the comfort, safety and security and even the very future of our own people in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity,” Nessel said.
Her remarks came amid a bitter divide among Michigan Democrats over Israel and the Democratic Party’s relationship with Jewish voters.
Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel and U.S. military aid to the country, attended the gathering. Nessel has previously criticized El-Sayed over comments he made following a March attempted attack on Temple Israel, a synagogue in West Bloomfield. El-Sayed apologized to Jewish Democrats at Sunday’s event for his earlier remarks, though not all were impressed.
Nessel framed the decision facing Jewish Democrats as a choice between their concerns about Israel and Jewish security and what she portrayed as broader threats to humanity, including climate change, nuclear war, artificial intelligence, and economic inequality.
“What good is defending the historic homeland of our ancestors and demanding that candidates acknowledge its right to exist if the planet upon which it rests is no longer inhabitable?” she asked.
Nessel also criticized what she described as the Democratic Party’s treatment of Jewish Americans, saying many Jewish Democrats feel they “must choose between our faith and our party.”
She acknowledged the frustration over anti-Israel rhetoric within Democratic circles, including arguments that Zionism is equivalent to racism or fascism.
“People whose entire understanding of Jewish-Israeli history fits neatly into a 47-second TikTok produced by Qatar or Iran,” she said.
But Nessel also argued that supporting President Donald Trump and the Republican Party amounted to an abandonment of Jewish responsibilities.
“I would argue that their support of selfishness and blind obedience to the world’s biggest and most dangerous fool is a direct abdication of our responsibilities as Jews whose traditions demand a profound obligation to the world and compassionate action toward others,” she said.
Nessel’s remarks came one day after she skipped the Michigan Democratic Party’s state convention because she feared she would be harassed or booed by fellow Democrats.
“I feel like my presence isn’t going to be welcome,” Nessel said at the time. “I don’t want to get chased around. I don’t want to get harassed. I don’t want to get yelled and screamed at. I don’t want to get booed off the stage.”
Nessel later told The Atlantic’s David Frum that she had witnessed an “enormous amount of antisemitism within the Democratic Party” since the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel.
She specifically criticized El-Sayed for his response to the attempted attack on Temple Israel, saying she believed his effort to connect the attack to Israeli military action risked providing an excuse for antisemitic violence.
Nessel has not publicly endorsed El-Sayed despite being a Democrat and saying she will not support his Republican opponent, Mike Rogers. At Sunday’s event, however, she urged Jewish Democrats to consider what she called their broader obligations when deciding how to vote.
The Michigan Senate race is expected to be closely watched as Democrats attempt to defend the open seat and Republicans seek to flip it.
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