LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed won the primary, but it looks like winning over Michigan’s Jewish voters is going to require a little more work.

According to a report from the New York Times, a coalition of Michigan rabbis and Jewish leaders is circulating a petition laying out five “nonnegotiable” principles candidates must embrace if they want their support. The petition doesn’t name El-Sayed, but organizers say he’s the intended audience.

The Post-Primary Homework

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The demands lay out five “nonnegotiable” positions for candidates seeking Jewish support: protecting Jewish safety, including the safety of Zionist Jews; respecting Jews’ right to define their own identity and connection to Israel; recognizing Jewish sovereignty and self-determination in Israel; ensuring Jews can participate fully in American political life without being ostracized over Zionism or support for Israel; and supporting a future for the Middle East that provides safety and self-determination for Palestinians alongside Israel rather than replacing the Jewish state.

The petition describes those positions as a baseline for earning the community’s political support, declaring that candidates who cannot meet them “have not earned our support.”

Rabbi Aaron Starr, president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis, said El-Sayed’s campaign rhetoric targeting Israel and its American supporters has made some Jews feel unsafe. 14 of his colleagues also signed onto the petition.

Bridges Need More Than Apologies

Since defeating pro-Israel Rep. Haley Stevens last month, El-Sayed has been trying to repair relations with Jewish voters, including meeting with rabbis and apologizing for his controversial “hurt people hurt people” response following the March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. Starr acknowledged the effort but said El-Sayed hasn’t gone far enough.

Jewish Safety vs. Nessel’s ‘Moral Imperative’

The disagreement over what Michigan’s Jewish Democrats should demand from candidates – and what should ultimately determine their votes – extends beyond El-Sayed. The petition draws a sharp contrast with the message that Michigan Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is Jewish, delivered to Jewish Democrats at the end of August. Nessel had skipped her own party’s state convention, citing concerns about her personal safety amid rising antisemitism within Democratic ranks, yet still urged Jewish voters to stick with the Democratic Party.

While the petition declares Jewish safety, Israel’s continued existence and Jewish political participation to be “nonnegotiable,” Nessel argued that Jewish Democrats have a “moral imperative” to put the needs of the world above their own self-interest. She went considerably further, saying they may be called to “sacrifice the comfort, safety and security and even the very future of our own people” for the opportunity to “save the rest of humanity.”