Former senator Al Franken (D-Minnesota) and more than two dozen other Jewish Americans are endorsing Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Michigan whose strong criticism of Israel has concerned some Jewish votersand leaders.
In an open letter first shared with The Washington Post, Franken and the other signatories acknowledged that El-Sayed’s positions on Israel “have been a concern for many” but argued that his views “are much less outside the mainstream” than the discourse around his campaign might suggest.
While some of the signatories may not share El-Sayed’s position opposing U.S. military aid to Israel, they wrote, ”we recognize that he has consistently articulated that stance as part of a broader commitment to applying the same human rights and international law standards to every country.”
The letter was initiated by Eric Schwartz, a former State Department official during the Obama administration. Other signatories include former congressman Andy Levin — who endorsed El-Sayed in the primary — and several former federal officials in Democratic administrations, including Mort Halperin, Michael Posner, Josh Gotbaum and Barnett Rubin.
The letter comes after a group of Jewish leaders in Michigan and elsewhere launched a petition this week demanding that El-Sayed commit to supporting “Jewish sovereignty in Israel,” among other conditions. El-Sayed has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide, blasted the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for spending heavilyto defeat him and campaigned with a commentator who has made inflammatory comments about American Jews.
Some Jewish Democrats in Michigan have said they plan to support El-Sayed’s Republican opponent, former congressman Mike Rogers. El-Sayed has made some efforts to repair his relationships with Jewish Michiganders, including recently apologizingfor his comments about a Michigan synagogue attack.
Schwartz organized the letter “based on the conviction that the conventional wisdom that most Jews are uneasy about the candidate is wrong, or at least not the whole story,” he wrote in an email to The Post.
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The post Al Franken, other Jewish Americans endorse El-Sayed in Michigan Senate race appeared first on Washington Post.
