Delegates at the United Auto Workers convention in Detroit voted on Thursday to divest from Israel Bonds, citing the war in Gaza. 

One of the largest unions in the country, the UAW previously held an estimated $400,000 to $700,000 in Israeli bonds and securities, according to the Detroit Free Press. It has not been disclosed how much money the divestment will affect or how many members voted to pass the resolution. 

The annual convention also featured a speech from Abdul El-Sayed, a far-left, UAW-endorsed Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan who told Jewish supporters last month that he “often struggle[s]” to answer whether he believes Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state. He said in an interview with CNN in April that he believes the Israeli government is just as evil as Hamas.

While UAW historically evokes imagery of assembly lines, picket lines and blue-collar solidarity, the union has increasingly drifted away from its core mission of representing autoworkers, largely driven by individuals pushing extreme political agendas that leave critics questioning their relevance to workplace issues. 

In January, 30% of the 275 employees of the Israeli-owned Breads Bakery signed union authorization cards for UAW Local 2179, the percentage necessary to petition the National Labor Relations Board for a union election. The group, which calls itself “Breaking Breads,” said in a statement, “Workers are demanding a living wage, safe workplace, and basic respect.” But the group’s demands also included that the management of the New York-based bakery chain, CEO Yonatan Floman and founder Gadi Peleg, “halt use of bakery profit to materially support the Israeli occupation.” Breaking Breads also condemned the bakery’s participation in the Great Nosh, an annual Jewish food festival in New York City, and said it will not participate in baking cookies with an image of the Israeli flag. 

A number of labor unions have seen a rise of antisemitism and anti-Israel activity since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks, despite many being historically supportive of Israel, dating back nearly a century, when many American unions donated money to the Histadrut, Israel’s national labor union. Multiple groups — including the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law — have now taken legal action against UAW branches in response to certain campaigns, which some legal experts allege were discriminatory against Israelis and Jews. 

UAW did not respond to a request for comment from Jewish Insider.