Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed made his case to Jewish voters in a new mailer this week in which he pledged to combat antisemitism — but Jewish Democrats skeptical of El-Sayed said the letter only reinforced their concerns that he’s not prepared to acknowledge or address contemporary drivers and manifestations of antisemitism.

In the letter mailed to Jewish voters this week, El-Sayed said he knows “what it’s like to be discriminated against because of what I believe” and said that he wants to “protect the kind of America where everyone can pray how they choose to pray.”

“I care deeply about the threat of antisemitism to our communities, and I am committed to protecting all Michigan Jews against hatred and injustice,” El-Sayed continued. “As your senator, I will always stand up against antisemitism and take the threat of violence against our Jewish community incredibly seriously. Antisemitism is a scourge, and we need to address it in all its forms. It has no place in our communities. Ever. Full stop.”

The letter, paid for by the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee, is the latest part of the El-Sayed campaign’s efforts to win over skeptical members of the Jewish community, with prominent community leaders saying they plan to support his opponent, former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), or sit out the race.

But some voters skeptical of El-Sayed’s campaign said the letter isn’t helping his case and that his focus on freedom of prayer and belief misunderstands the nature of the antisemitic threat that the community faces.

“What I have always said and what I will continue to say is that his continued emphasis on describing antisemitism solely as a religious bigotry leaves him ill-equipped to protect Jews should he be elected to office,” Democratic state Rep. Noah Arbit, who opposes El-Sayed, told Jewish Insider. “The attack on Temple Israel wasn’t motivated because the terrorist didn’t like how we pray. He attacked us because we are a proudly Zionist congregation.”

El-Sayed continues to face criticism for his response to the Hezbollah-inspired attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., earlier this year, of which he said, “hurt people hurt people.” El-Sayed has since apologized for those remarks, and has been working since the primary election to win over skeptical Jewish voters.

Arbit said that El-Sayed “can’t bring himself to speak to the violent antisemitism that stems from blind, burning hatred of Israel” and questioned how he’ll respond if Jews face similar attacks going forward.

“When Jews in Michigan are targeted with violence because of our connections and our commitments to Israel, will Abdul El-Sayed stand with us?” Arbit said. “Or will he — as so many of his friends on the extreme, far left have done — deflect, excuse and blame us or blame the Israeli government for the fact that radicalized people have taken their anger about a foreign conflict out on Michiganders?”

Joan Lowenstein, a member of the Michigan Democratic Party Central Committee and president of the Jewish Federation of Ann Arbor, offered a similar view. Lowenstein is a leading member of the Nonnegotiable campaign, which is pressing El-Sayed and other Democrats to agree to a series of commitments to protecting Jewish safety and acknowledging Israel’s right to exist.

“It makes it seem as though all the Jews really care about is prayer, the only thing that differentiates us is that we pray differently, as though antisemitism is about prayer. It’s just so tone deaf,” Lowenstein said, adding that El-Sayed seems to be trying to separate Jewish voters from Israel.

She called the letter “more lip service,” not a meaningful commitment like those sought by the Nonnegotiable effort — and particularly hollow coming amid escalating anti-Israel rhetoric by El-Sayed, who this week said that Israel is not a friend or ally of the United States.

She said that El-Sayed’s repeated accusations that Israel dragged the U.S. into the Iran war and has caused nothing but trouble for the United States only play into antisemitic tropes.

“El-Sayed seems to be moving even farther away from understanding the issue of what we would have hoped to hear to reassure us, and instead is really just saying, you’re going to have to take me or leave me because all my votes are going to be against Israel,” she said.

Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield, Mich., a leader of the Nonnegotiable campaign, speaking in his personal capacity, also said that the letter highlights the disconnect between El-Sayed and the Jewish community and fails to address real-world manifestations of antisemitism.

“This letter demonstrates that Dr. El-Sayed is just not hearing the requests of Jewish Michiganders. It’s been six weeks since Nonnegotiable Michigan launched with clear and consistent communication,” Starr said. “I certainly share in his hope that America can be a place ‘where everyone can pray how they choose to pray,’ and I stand up for the right of everyone to pray or not to pray how they want. 21^st-century antisemitism, though, manifests not in discrimination against how we pray, but in our ability to pray safely, to gather safely, to express our connection to the land, people, and state of Israel safely.”

He said that achieving safety for the Jewish community requires not just security funding — noting that the community spends $1 billion annually nationwide on securing its institutions — but also “rhetoric and policy that recognize how antisemitism takes hold and spreads.”

He went on to call out El-Sayed’s own rhetoric, including calling Israel “bloodthirsty” and attributing U.S. support for Israel to financial inducements.

“Just this week, he told a national audience that Israel takes American money to push our country into wars, and he equates Israel with Iran,” Starr said. “When he and others engage in such language, Jews across America feel the consequences on college campuses, at hospitals, in grocery stores, in parades, at our preschools, and in our sanctuaries.”

This week, Illinois Democratic House candidate Daniel Biss, who beat out an AIPAC-backed challenger as well as a far-left anti-Israel activist, visited the Wolverine State to speak to a group of Jewish voters in connection with Michigan Jews for Democracy, a group supporting but not formally affiliated with El-Sayed’s campaign.

“With antisemitism rising, Abdul has shown a real commitment to Jewish safety. He’s the right choice for our community and our country,” Biss said on X. Other speakers the group has brought to the state include Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) and House candidate Brad Lander.