Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan’s Democratic Senate nominee, doubled down on his anti-Israel rhetoric on Tuesday — a day after he drew renewed scrutiny over his ongoing association with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker.

Speaking at a Dearborn church, El-Sayed declined to confirm if he hopes to win an endorsement from state Sen. Jeremy Moss, a Jewish Democratic nominee for a congressional seat in the Detroit area, whom Piker had recently targeted on his show while arguing that Jews who support Israel are inviting violence against themselves.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat that we have our disagreements, especially when it comes to foreign policy and the best use of our tax dollars,” El-Sayed said of Moss at the event on Tuesday, billed as “Hate Has No Home in Michigan.”

“And the plurality of Michigan Democratic primary voters nominated me to be the Democratic nominee,” he added. 

While reiterating his opposition to antisemitism and appreciation for Judaism, he said that his support for ending aid to Israel is “about making sure that in our foreign policy, we substantiate equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination for Palestinian folk.”

“I’d rather my tax dollars not get spent to take away some people’s self-determination that could be used to empower other folks here,” El-Sayed argued in his remarks.

The comments suggest El-Sayed is continuing to play to his far-left voting base, even as his hostile views on Israel have alienated Jewish Democrats whom he will likely need to win the competitive battleground state.

Moss, for his part, is among the most prominent Democratic holdouts on El-Sayed, whose modest effort to distance himself from Piker on Monday drove a wedge between the two nominees.

In a statement posted to X on Monday, El-Sayed made no mention of either Piker or Moss, omissions that drew backlash from critics. Instead, he said that “nobody speaks for this campaign besides me and my campaign spokespeople,” while downplaying Piker as a “Twitch steamer” who would not define the contest. He did not say if his relationship with Piker, who has been a top surrogate for his campaign, would change moving forward.

“My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own daughters,” he went on in his statement. “Antisemitism is a scourge and we need to address it in all its forms. And I stand against any rhetoric that puts the community at risk.”

The statement reportedly disrupted a conversation between the two nominees regarding an endorsement from Moss that is now in question — even as the state senator has vowed not to back El-Sayed’s Republican rival, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), who has been courting Jewish Democrats.

Moss, in a statement released Monday, said that he and El-Sayed have been in “continual dialogue” about shared goals such as fighting “MAGA extremism” and “Jewish and Arab safety and security.”

“There is still work ahead to unite our ticket despite our differences,” Moss added, without confirming if he would back El-Sayed. “It won’t happen overnight, nor should it. It will require continuing outreach that is credible and authentic.”

Jessica “Decky” Alexander, the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus chair, said that several campaigns and Jewish voices had urged El-Sayed’s team to release a statement on Monday countering Piker’s comments. “Whether they would have or not” without such prompting, “I do not know, but there is a comment,” she told Jewish Insider, calling his response a sign of “definite forward movement.”

“Many caucus members have shared that they would like him to disavow Piker,” she clarified on Tuesday.