As Democrats consider how to regroup from their electoral losses after President Donald Trump’s victory last year, the newly elected chair of the Michigan Democratic Party has given an early indication that he will throw a lifeline to far-left activists unhappy with the party’s support for Israel during the 2024 election. 

Michigan Democrats unanimously elected former state Sen. Curtis Hertel as the party’s new statewide chair last weekend, after his only competitor, Al Williams, faced criticism for antisemitic remarks and dropped out. Hertel’s victory earned praise from Democratic Majority for Israel, which had called for Williams to withdraw. 

“We’re confident Mr. Hertel is the right person to unify and lead Michigan’s Democratic Party into the future,” Mark Mellman, DMFI’s president and CEO, said in a statement. 

But Hind Omar, Hertel’s pick for corresponding secretary, threatened last year to break with the Democratic Party over former President Joe Biden and presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris’ support of Israel. 

“Where the Democratic Party used to be the soft place that we would land, it has now become the aggression against our community,” Omar, a diversity, equity and inclusion strategist in Ann Arbor, told CBS News days before the 2024 presidential election. “We showed up for Biden. And this experience during his administration under his watch has been a betrayal.”

Omar ultimately did vote for Harris, she told Jewish Insider. Mellman said Tuesday that he is “confident the MDP will continue to be a pro-Israel party under Chairman Hertel’s leadership.”

Omar is the first Palestinian-American to serve on the executive board of the Michigan Democratic Party. Days after being appointed to the secretary role, she shared a post on Facebook that appeared to make light of Hamas’ treatment of Israeli hostages. 

Omar re-shared a post with the image of recently released hostage Omer Shem Tov kissing a Hamas terrorist on the forehead — which Shen Tov said he was forced to do — under a message that said, “Triggered by ‘hostage kiss,’ [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu vows to not release Palestinian hostage if similar ceremonies are held.”

“You mad bro?” Omar wrote.

In a statement, Omar stood by the post.

“Any criticism was regarding Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to deviate from the agreed upon cease-fire deal which would endanger civilians. As a Muslim, Palestinian and mother I believe in fighting for humanity,” she said.

Noah Arbit, a Michigan state representative and a member of the Democratic Jewish Caucus, dismissed Omar’s rhetoric as on the “fringe” of the party. 

“I feel confident that whatever the views of some on the fringe, Michigan Democrats and our elected officials and candidates will remain committed to standing with our democratic allies like the State of Israel as it faces existential threats from Hamas and Iran,” he told JI.