Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed said in an interview released Monday that Israel is not a friend or ally of the United States, escalating comments he’s made repeatedly this month characterizing Israel as a threat comparable to Iran.

“I don’t think an ally who uses you as a shield in war is actually an ally,” El-Sayed said in an ABC News interview. “And I think the broader part of the American public agrees with me on that. … An ally that takes your money to put you into wars you shouldn’t be fighting is not an ally.”

“I think it’s time for us to realize that Israel is not actually our friend,” he continued.

He repeatedly questioned what benefit the U.S. has garnered from its relationship with Israel, characterizing the exchange as one where the U.S. is “running cover for a country that did genocide, that does apartheid on a daily basis.”

El-Sayed described Israel as “pok[ing] the bear” that is Iran, continuing, “Is it your friend [who poked the bear] or the bear who caused the danger? I say it’s both,” continuing to dismiss questions about whether Israel or Iran poses a greater threat to the United States.

“I think we live right now in a world that has more war in it because of both the actions of Israel and Iran,” he said. “People don’t want to talk about the fact that it was the Israeli prime minister who has been trying to get an American president to fight this war for the better part of 40 years, who finally found a president dumb enough to do it, and here we are fighting this war that we can’t get out of. So to argue that somehow this war is not in part or in large part because of Israel is just not paying attention to the facts.”

El-Sayed continued to dodge direct questions about which country is the greater threat, or whether he views Israel and Iran as equal threats to the U.S.

The Senate candidate suggested that U.S. aid to Israel is depriving American schools of funding and attributed U.S. support for Israel to AIPAC’s involvement in campaigns — a familiar line of attack from the candidate.

“You should ask yourself why are not — in a democracy — more American politicians asking the question that the broader public seems to want asked?” El-Sayed said. “Well, it’s because there is a special interest organization that spends a whole lot of money to make sure that any politician who asks those questions gets punished. I just happened to beat them.” AIPAC had spent tens of millions of dollars to boost El-Sayed’s primary opponent, Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI).

Asked whether he condemns the Iranian regime, a question he has dodged repeatedly, El-Sayed said that there is “no question” that the regime has “engaged in horrific acts,” adding “I am for democracy, I’m for human rights … there’s no question that the regime has engaged in acts that are terrible.”

He said that while it is a fact that Iran is an “enemy combatant in this war,” the U.S.’ “best interest” would have been to remain in the nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration.

“I condemn a lot of [the regime’s] actions but if you want a pathway to peace with folks, you’re going to have to figure out how to get to a position of peace,” he said. 

He went on to condemn Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Israel as well.

“I condemn the Saudi human rights abuses too, but that’s not a question you’re asking me. So I’m just saying that there are a lot of condemnable things that a lot of foreign governments have done, but the question for us has to be: How do we promote our values, and how do we do that in a way while we’re also promoting peace?” he said. 

“This idea of ‘condemn or not condemn,’ right, is kind of an odd approach. I condemn the genocide that Israel has done. I condemn the apartheid too. I condemn the attack on democracy that Iran has done, but we engage with actors in a world where you kind of have to figure out how to make peace with people you disagree with.”

Noah Arbit, a Democratic Michigan state representative who has said he will not vote for El-Sayed, said on X in response to the interview, “I really don’t think people understand: the Jewish people is ONE PEOPLE — wherever we live on earth. Israel is home to [half] of the Jewish people globally. So, what happens in Israel matters deeply to Jews everywhere. Anything that is a threat to Israel is a threat to Jews everywhere.”