Michigan Democrat leaders join Nonnegotiable campaign pressuring El-Sayed on Jewish safety, Israel

Nonnegotiable Michigan emphasized that the initiative is an invitation for candidates to engage with Jewish voters, not an ultimatum.

Seventeen prominent Michigan Jewish Democratic elected officials, party leaders, and activists publicly signed on to the "Nonnegotiable Michigan" campaign on Tuesday, urging Democratic US Senate nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed to affirm foundational commitments on Jewish safety, identity, and Israeli statehood.

The growing roster of signatories includes University of Michigan Regent Mark Bernstein, State Representative and founder of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus Noah Arbit, former State Representative Ellen Cogen Lipton, and former Keego Harbor mayor Rob Kalman, alongside several local council members, township supervisors, and executive board members of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus.

This expanding backing follows the initial launch of the campaign earlier this month by Michigan rabbis, cantors, and synagogue lay leaders. Nonnegotiable Michigan noted that these prominent Democrats joined the effort three weeks after its debut, after receiving no public response from the El-Sayed campaign addressing requests from Jewish Democratic voters.

Campaign centers on five commitments

The campaign centers on five core commitments: affirming that Jewish safety, including the safety of Zionist Jews, is nonnegotiable; recognizing the right of Jews to define their own identities; supporting Jewish sovereignty in Israel; welcoming the full participation of Jews in American political life; and providing an affirmative vision for a better future in the Middle East.

Nonnegotiable Michigan emphasized that the initiative is designed as an invitation for candidates to engage with Jewish voters rather than an ultimatum or an endorsement in the US Senate race. However, participants expressed frustration over what they described as a lack of engagement from El-Sayed as Election Day approaches, pointing to past rhetoric of concern to the community.

In a letter sent last week to former Vice President Kamala Harris before her visit to Michigan, Nonnegotiable faith leaders detailed their concerns regarding the Senate nominee. "Dr. El-Sayed has had every opportunity to meet our request to support our basic needs," the leaders stated in the letter. "So far, he has declined even to respond. He has called Israelis 'bloodthirsty' - language that echoes the centuries-old blood libel used to justify violence against Jews."

Demand that El-Sayed state plainly that safety of Zionist Jews is nonnegotiable

The campaign further presses the candidate on these concerns, stating that "the organizers urge El-Sayed to state plainly whether the safety of Zionist Jews is nonnegotiable -- without any ifs, ands, or buts -- and whether he aspires to dismantle Jewish sovereignty and self-governance in the State of Israel.

Nonnegotiable leaders are also asking El-Sayed to publicly reject and walk back rhetoric that stigmatizes and incites violence against Jewish Michiganders, that invokes longstanding anti-Jewish tropes and stereotypes, casts Jewish political participation as nefarious or corrupt, or scapegoats Israel and Jews for the suffering of Michiganders."

This campaign follows an incident last week where El-Sayed evaded an audience member's request to condemn Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and declined to comment on Iran, telling the crowd that the US should not be involved in foreign regime change.

El-Sayed's election campaign team did not respond to an emailed request by The Jerusalem Post for comment by the time of publication.