Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) traded barbs over Iran and other Middle East policy issues at last night’s Michigan Senate debate, with both seeking to carve out hawkish and pro-Israel positions on the conflict.

Israel and Middle East policy have become particularly hot-button issues in the critical swing state over the past year in light of the state’s significant Arab and Muslim, as well as Jewish, populations, which could play key roles in next month’s election.

“I take a back seat to no one on the issue of Iran. I’m as hawkish as anyone,” Slotkin said. “They’ve been our adversary for 50 years. We need to pressure them, to deter them, to contain them.”

She also emphasized, however, that she will not support another major U.S. land war in the Middle East against Iran, attacking Rogers for his support for the Iraq War. That’s been a consistent position from Slotkin — she was a lead sponsor of a 2020 House resolution, backed by most House Democrats, to prevent further U.S. military action against Iran following the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Rogers declined to specify any red line that would cause him to cease his support for Israel. 

Rogers, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said the problems in the Middle East emanate from Iran, “so if we don’t contain Tehran, I’m telling you what, we’ll have more trouble, we’ll be more involved in the Middle East.”

Rogers cast Slotkin as “all wrong” on Iran, describing her as the “chief architect” of the Iran nuclear deal, going on to  attack her for her policies on the Houthis and for allegedly supporting Iran’s access to global oil markets..

Slotkin shot back that she was targeted by Iranian rockets and terrorism when she served in Iraq and described herself as a committed Iran hawk. “I know intimately what it’s like to have Iranian terrorism kill my friends,” Slotkin said.

Rogers retorted that Democratic policies are drawing the United States “into a wider conflict” in the Middle East and spoke dismissively about her service in Iraq, saying “I understand my opponent’s notion that somehow serving in Iraq gives permission to be wrong in the entire effort toward Iran.”

Slotkin responded by describing Rogers as among the strongest advocates for the Iraq war, arguing that the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are the roots of the current disorder in the Middle East. 

Rogers shot back that he had been “more cautious than most” about the war, and suggested that Slotkin, a former CIA officer, and her colleagues had been responsible for providing faulty information to Congress. Slotkin did not join the CIA until after the Iraq war began, per her campaign.

“Listen, I get it, the CIA has deception training. My opponent clearly went through that,” Rogers concluded. “But you’re supposed to use that against your adversaries, not Michigan voters.”

Both candidates emphasized that a cease-fire in Gaza would be achievable in the immediate term if Hamas were to release the hostages it is holding in Gaza and when Hamas and Hezbollah can no longer launch attacks against Israel. And both highlighted that Israel is being attacked on multiple fronts and said it has a right to defend itself.