Goldman previously consulted for Dana Nessel’s attorney general campaign
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed campaigns at The Meanwhile Bar on October 8, 2026 in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Add JewishInsider on GoogleMichigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed hired a veteran political consultant, Lenore Goldman, as a Jewish outreach director for his campaign. Goldman reportedly said she had joined the campaign in September, but the campaign has made no public announcement.
Goldman, according to her LinkedIn and website, has consulted for various Michigan-based political efforts and causes including Attorney General Dana Nessel’s campaign, a Michigan coordinated campaign effort, a 2018 anti-gerrymandering ballot initiative, an advocacy group working to end the tipped minimum wage and a long-shot 2024 Michigan Democratic House campaign.
She also consulted for the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, according to a client list.
JTA first reported the news of Goldman’s hire.
Goldman is based in Berkeley, Calif., according to her firm’s website and other public profiles, despite her work on Michigan causes.
Goldman and the El-Sayed campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Anti-Israel activist Jacob Berger: ‘It’s cathartic because I want to beat the s*** out of these guys every single day’
(Esra Hacioglu Karakaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Jacob Berger, a Jewish American actor and viral content creator, poses for a photo wearing a T-shirt with Gaza written on it during an interview in Cairo, Egypt on January 29, 2025.
An attendee at a New York City fundraiser for Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Monday night told a fellow attendee that beating up a pro-Israel demonstrator outside the rally was “cathartic” and “the next best thing” to being able to punch an Israeli.
According to video of the incident posted on social media by both men involved, the two mutually agreed to fight and that they would not report the incident to the police.
The El-Sayed supporter, an anti-Israel Jewish actor and activist named Jacob Berger, then bragged about the incident to a fellow attendee at the El-Sayed event, in an audio recording obtained by Jewish Insider. Berger does not appear to have any formal affiliation with the El-Sayed campaign and was not a host or organizer of the fundraiser.
Berger posted clips from the fight with the caption, “had to rock a zionist face” with a smiling emoji. Asked about the fight, Berger claimed in the recording that he and the other man have a history of antagonism from past demonstrations and confrontations, and described the fight gleefully.
“It’s cathartic because I want to beat the s*** out of these guys every single day. He cheers on genocide, he cheers on babies being blown up,” Berger said in the recording. “F*** you — I was literally putting all my rage into my fists there. … I can’t punch an Israeli right now, but that’s the next best thing.”
Asked by JI whether the recording was authentic, Berger sent a vulgar response, dismissing the question.
“Abdul believes everyone has a right to express their opinion without fear of violence,” campaign spokesperson Roxie Richner said in a statement to JI.
Berger has recently posted a series of videos mocking the FlyDubai hijacking, and suggested in another video during the U.N. General Assembly that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials should go “back to Poland where they belong.”
Berger was also a member of the 2025 Gaza flotilla and was detained by Israel. He claims to have been banned from Israel. He moved to Egypt at some point in recent years, and has been accused of misconduct by other anti-Israel activists.
As El-Sayed works to rally members of the Jewish community who remain skeptical of him and his campaign, a recent letter from Michigan Jews in support of the candidate was also found to include a series of fringe figures holding various extremist views.
Jocelyn Benson, the party’s gubernatorial nominee, is also slated to attend the Oct. 24 event
Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images
Former U.S. President Barack Obama waves to players at Obama Presidential Center on July 24, 2026 in Chicago, Illinois.
Former President Barack Obama is set to campaign on Oct. 24 in Detroit with Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and gubernatorial candidate Jocelyn Benson, around the beginning of early voting in the state.
Holding the Michigan Senate seat is among Democrats’ top priorities in the midterm elections. Polling has shown the race between El-Sayed and Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers is highly competitive, with Republicans making the seat one of their top targets.
El-Sayed has struggled to consolidate support from Jewish Democratic voters and is also working to win over Black voters.
El-Sayed campaigned over the weekend with Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), their first joint appearance since El-Sayed became the nominee.
The Maine Democratic Senate candidate said, ‘It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish and what that means to them, with the Holocaust’
Joseph Prezioso/Getty Images
Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson speaks at a town hall on September 13, 2026 in Biddeford, Maine.
Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson called it “unfortunate” that Jewish residents of Maine reject the labeling of the war in Gaza as a genocide in an interview with Portland’s NBC News affiliate released Tuesday.
“It’s unfortunate that there are people here in Maine that don’t like to use that term only because they’re Jewish and what that means to them, with the Holocaust,” Jackson said. “[Israel’s war in Gaza] fits that description and it is. It’s [an] unbelievable thing that’s happened there that people that are innocent are being murdered, and it is a genocide.”
Pressed on Hamas’ role in starting the war and killing innocent Israeli civilians, Jackson acknowledged, “You could argue the same thing for Hamas too.” He added: “There’s people that are wrong on both sides of this issue. But in the end, senseless murders, horrific murders are happening to both sides, and that has to stop.”
In a statement to Jewish Insider on Wednesday, Jackson said that he had misspoken and apologized for the comments, while maintaining his view that the war in Gaza is a genocide.
“I believe what’s happening in Gaza is genocide, and I also understand that word carries particular weight for many Jewish families given the Holocaust — the genocide of six million Jews. In trying to acknowledge that, I misspoke and made a generalization about Jewish Mainers’ views that doesn’t reflect what I meant to say,” Jackson said in the statement. “I apologize for the pain that caused.”
He continued, “Mainers hold a range of deeply considered views, and I promise I will always listen and work to approach these conversations with the care and respect they deserve. In the U.S. Senate, I’ll fight antisemitism and work for lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.”
Jackson said that the war in Gaza is the foreign policy issue he hears about the most from voters and is the most significant foreign policy challenge for the United States, beyond even the war in Iran.
During the interview, he repeatedly affirmed his view that the U.S. should not continue to send “blank checks” to the Israeli government, describing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal.” At one point, he said he did not want to continue sending “money” to Israel.
Jackson is facing Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in one of the most competitive Senate races of the cycle. A New York Times/Siena College poll released last week showed Collins narrowly ahead — one of the few battleground contests where the Republican nominee is leading.
Jackson, a former state Senate president, was the Democrats’ choice to replace Graham Platner on the ballot after the party’s original nominee withdrew from the race after facing allegations of rape and sexual abuse. Platner campaigned as a virulently anti-Israel candidate and faced controversy over a Nazi Totenkopf tattoo that he had for nearly two decades.
Plus, Cruz's wake-up call
Ilia YEFIMOVICH / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a ceremony commemorating Israel's Remembrance Day on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on April 21, 2026.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s U.N. General Assembly address, report on Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s invocation of the Holocaust to justify his anti-Israel rhetoric and cover Sen. Ted Cruz’s warning that Christian leaders are failing to address rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment among younger Christians. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: House Speaker Mike Johnson, Alina Habba and Wayne Rooney.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Executive Editor Melissa Weiss, with assists from Danielle Cohen-Kanik and Tamara Zieve.
Today’s Agenda
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address the U.N. General Assembly around 2 p.m. ET today during his brief visit to the U.S.
Before departing for New York last night, Netanyahu traveled to Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, where Neria Leiter, a son of Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter, was in critical condition after injuries sustained in a car-ramming attack at a West Bank checkpoint earlier in the day. More below.
Speaking to reporters earlier today at the hospital, Leiter said his son was still “hanging in the balance” but had been stabilized by medical workers. “The next few days will be critical,” the ambassador added.
Security in the area around the U.N. headquarters in Turtle Bay will be tight during Netanyahu’s speech, owing to several protests planned around the Israeli leader’s trip to New York. Read our previous coverage on how the NYPD is preparing to handle UNGA-related protests.
In Washington tonight, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will host a state dinner for Chinese President Xi Jinping, with a guest list that includes several tech and finance executives.
An International Court of Justice panel could rule as soon as today on an effort to change the threshold for defining genocide in a case between Gambia and Myanmar that would have implications for South Africa’s case against Israel in the court.
One Thing To Know
analysis
By Gili Cohen
For a few hours, Israel’s deeply polarized political arena, just a month before the elections, found rare unity following the news that Neria Leiter, son of Israel’s ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel Leiter, was critically injured in a car-ramming terror attack in the West Bank.
But even before the attack, which could affect the content of Netanyahu’s speech, the prime minister’s trip to New York was set to be entirely different from prior UNGA appearances. The prime minister’s brief video message about his speech on Tuesday referenced only one individual: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Not Iran, not Hamas, nor Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Sources close to the prime minister claim Mamdani is the reason for Netanyahu’s unprecedented brief visit. The concern, his aides claim, stems from potential protests or political posturing by Mamdani, despite him admitting he has no authority to arrest Netanyahu, a key campaign pledge of the mayor’s. However, a former official involved in coordinating prime ministerial trips offered a different explanation: As long as Netanyahu remains in New York for only a few hours, the absence of a meeting with President Donald Trump becomes far less conspicuous.
The Big Reads
no compromise
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, refused to tone down his hostile rhetoric toward Israel, including his repeated accusations of genocide, during a newly released podcast interview, even as his stances risk alienating Jewish Democrats who are otherwise eager to support his campaign in a key battleground state, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports. In an appearance on the “Raging Moderates” podcast hosted by Scott Galloway and Jessica Tarlov, who are both Jewish and disagree with his stances on Middle East policy, El-Sayed doubled down in defense of his repeated use of the term genocide to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza, invoking the Holocaust to justify his position.
sanctions push
Nineteen Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), introduced a bill on Wednesday that would impose sanctions on companies, individuals and others involved in the construction and development of Israeli settlements in the E1 area of the West Bank, which the lawmakers argue would be a severe blow to the viability of a Palestinian state, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports. The far-reaching sanctions would also target financial institutions and government officials and entities involved in supporting or facilitating E1 settlement construction.
wake-up call
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) warned on Wednesday that Christian leaders are “asleep” and failing to recognize the degree to which antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment have spread among Christian youth, Jewish Insider’s Emily Jacobs reports. The Texas senator made the comments while accepting the leadership award at the American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) annual Lamplighter Awards in Washington. Cruz voiced concern that older Christian leaders, specifically evangelicals, were not acknowledging that younger adherents have ideologically drifted from previous generations. “If you look at the polling, young evangelicals are turning systematically against Israel, and there are millions of dollars that are being spent to turn them against Israel,” he said.
The Rundown
alternate reality
security advocacy
envoy debate
memorial event
On Our Radar
● The Live Briefing. Word on the street, clips, podcasts and quick updates — the items we’re tracking all day in our Live Briefing on the app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Oman and Azerbaijan halted flights to and from Iran, in accordance with a deadline set by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as part of the Trump administration’s Operation Economic Outcast; Iraq, whose president pledged last week to crack down on Iran-backed militias operating in the country, also suspended flights from Baghdad.
Tehran, meanwhile, threatened to paralyze the airports of countries in the region who comply with the U.S.’ block on flights to and from the Islamic Republic…
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged President Donald Trump to press Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to the White House this week on Chinese companies’ provision of satellite imagery to Iran that helped the regime target American military installations in the Middle East, and China’s continued evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil…
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said the war with Iran needs to be brought “to a resolution,” arguing that the U.S. has achieved its objective of preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear capability and pointing to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz as driving up gas, fuel and grocery costs…
American Priorities PAC, which backed several successful Democratic socialist congressional campaigns, said it plans to target nine House Democrats in 2028; the group will focus on challenging Reps. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), George Latimer (D-NY), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Greg Landsman (D-OH) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), as well as current candidates Melissa Bean, Adrian Boafo and Ben McAdams, all of whom won their primaries and are expected to join the next Congress…
Florida’s attorney general filed a lawsuit against The New York Times on behalf of a group of shareholders alleging that the newspaper’s board of directors failed to hold the Times newsroom to its own editorial standards regarding its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war; the lawsuit claims that the paper’s editorial standards were “weaponized within the company to serve the personal agendas of unchecked editors”…
The attorney general of Missouri launched an investigation into Students for Justice in Palestine’s fundraising activities in the Show-Me State, saying, “We will use every tool the law allows to expose deceptive fundraising, trace where the money goes, and stop any effort to channel charitable donations to violent or terror-linked actors”…
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the repatriation of three dozen antiquities to Syria, more than a dozen of which had been housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art…
A federal judge sentenced a Massachusetts man to nearly 10 years in prison for making interstate threats targeting Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) and his family in August 2024…
Alina Habba, a former lawyer for Trump who briefly served as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey last year, is reportedly set to marry Turkish businessman Turhan Mildon, whose company has overseen projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Venezuela…
A Philadelphia educator and anti-Israel activist who claimed to be Black and Palestinian publicly acknowledged that she was Jewish, with family living in the West Bank, prompting local activist groups with which she was affiliated to distance themselves from her…
Sunkist Fruit Gems, a staple at many a Jewish simcha for the last half century, has been discontinued, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Jay Deitcher reports…
A 19th-century Albert Lang painting was restituted to the descendants of the German-Jewish art collector who owned the work, which was determined by authorities in Germany to have been looted by the Nazis, before she fled the country in 1938…
The Netherlands will rejoin the Eurovision Song Contest in 2027, after its Avrotros public broadcaster refused to take part in this year’s competition as well as the one slated for next year over Israel’s participation; the umbrella body of Dutch broadcasters determined that the NOS will provide coverage instead of Avrotros, while a Dutch contestant will be selected by an independent panel…
Longtime Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, who played for D.C. United after leaving Manchester United in 2017, said in a new docuseries, which includes a trip with his wife and sons to Auschwitz, that his Polish-born maternal great-grandmother was Jewish…
Worthy Reads
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Iran’s BFF: The Wall Street Journal’s Rory Jones, Jon Emont, Vera Bergengruen and Summer Said look at how China is quietly assisting Iran as it faces crippling sanctions spearheaded by the U.S., even as the White House prioritizes good relations with Beijing. “Washington has launched hundreds of sanctions targeting Iran since the war began on Feb. 28, including penalties against companies and individuals in China it believes are helping Tehran. Those steps, along with an embargo of Iranian trade, have caused a contraction of Iran’s economy. But the White House has proven reluctant to more seriously confront Beijing over its support for Iran, which has continued launching attacks on U.S. forces and oil infrastructure in the Middle East.” [WSJ]
Regional Realignment: In an excerpt from his new book The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East, published in The Atlantic, Simon Sebag Montefiore considers the evolution underway in the Middle East. “The United States, Russia, and China still intervene in the Middle East, but in a manner that is Olympian, erratic, and inconsistent. Behind them lurks a deeper conflict of entire systems: the open world, still (just) led by America, versus the closed world that is the axis of China and Russia. A parallel, simultaneous battle, centered within the Middle East, rages among different versions of, or attitudes toward, the practice of Islam and its complex relationship with the West.” [TheAtlantic]
Picture of the Day
Nova music festival survivor Shalev Biton (right) appeared onstage at yesterday’s rally against antisemitism near the U.N. headquarters in New York alongside Yunes Alkarnawi (left), a Bedouin from southern Israel who saved Biton and dozens of others during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks. Read more about Alkarnawi’s rescue of Biton here. Michael Priest Photography
Birthdays
Marc Guggenheim, screenwriter, television producer, comic book writer and novelist, turns 56
Joanne Greenberg, author of 26 books, best known for the semi-autobiographical novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, turns 94
Judith Margolis, artist working visually in paintings, drawings, artist’s books and multimedia collages, turns 82
Rafael Eldad, retired Israeli diplomat who served as Israel’s ambassador to Peru, Argentina, Brazil and Chile, turns 77
David Pecker, former CEO of American Media, publisher of celebrity and health and fitness magazines, turns 75
Franz Lidz, feature writer for Sports Illustrated for 27 years, he is a 2015 inductee into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, turns 75
Michael Weiss, attorney and former judge advocate
Jeffrey Hecktman, founder, executive chairman and CEO of Hilco Global, turns 73
William Gross, lead public safety success manager at FirstNet by AT&T
Christopher L. Eisgruber, president of Princeton University since 2013, in his mid-40s he discovered that his mother was Jewish, turns 65
Alan Popovsky, co-founder and principal at DC-based PRG Hospitality
Chanina Sperlin, EVP of governmental affairs at the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council
Noreena Hertz, economist, best-selling author and a great-granddaughter of former British Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz, turns 59
Yael Goldman-Pfeffer, Israeli television host, actor and model, turns 48
Jessica Schumer, Yale Law graduate and head of New York policy and community engagement at Amazon
Alexandra Jaffe, former White House reporter at the Associated Press, now editorial manager at Elastic
Ben Platt, actor, singer and songwriter, turns 33
Benjamin David Goldberg, rap musician, known professionally as Token, turns 28
‘This election is about what’s going to happen when we elect Abdul to the United States Senate. I am done,’ Dingell said, suggesting criticism of Piker is a Republican ploy
EFF KOWALSKY / AFP via Getty Images
Democratic Senate candidate from Michigan Abdul El-Sayed speaks while Reps. Jamie Raskin and Debbie Dingell listen during a Student Meet and Greet at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor, Mich., on August 26, 2026.
Speaking at a rally for Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed on Wednesday, Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) brushed aside criticisms of El-Sayed’s relationship with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker and said she wants to stop talking about Piker altogether.
The streamer has faced a torrent of criticism, including from top Democratic leaders, in recent days after making comments suggesting that Jews supportive of Israel have invited antisemitic violence on themselves. El-Sayed repeatedly campaigned with Piker and some Democratic lawmakers say he hasn’t done enough to distance himself from or condemn Piker’s comments.
“I’m done. This election is about what’s going to happen when we elect Abdul to the United States Senate. I am done,” Dingell said, kicking off the rally at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “So don’t any reporter ask me again about Hasan Piker. It’s not what November is about.”
Dingell said she doesn’t “agree with Hasan Piker on a lot of stuff, and I really don’t agree with him on some of the [things he said about] women” and said she doesn’t understand why he has become popular, but suggested questions about Piker are a Republican tactic to divide Democrats.
“Republicans are trying to divide us, and we’ve got to stop letting them divide us,” she said. “You need to go out there and define what this election is about. Don’t let others do it. They’re trying to divide us. They’re trying to take us off of so many other issues.”
Dingell chairs the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee, serving as a member of House Democratic leadership.
The far-left Senate candidate is facing off in the Aug. 4 primary against Rep. Haley Stevens
Sarah Rice/Getty Images
Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for US Senate in Michigan, speaks at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan running in the race’s far-left lane, on Sunday described Israel as a “rogue state” that has committed genocide and apartheid. El-Sayed made the comments in an interview with Manu Raju on CNN’s “Inside Politics Sunday.”
Asked whether he thought the Israeli government should be considered by the U.S. to be a foreign terrorist organization, El-Sayed answered, “It’s certainly a rogue state.”
“I mean, they did a genocide,” he continued. “What about doing a genocide is not evil in your book? At baseline they do apartheid.”
Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan running in the race’s far-left lane, on Sunday described Israel as a “rogue state” that has committed genocide and apartheid.@HaleyCohen19 reports: https://t.co/9BELSWPMXQ pic.twitter.com/vSYVTTRZJZ
— Jewish Insider (@jewishinsider) July 12, 2026
El-Sayed’s comments come as Michigan’s heated Democratic Senate primary enters its final stretch. He is facing off in the Aug. 4 primary against Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) — a moderate lawmaker who has been supported by AIPAC and pro-Israel donors.
Last week, El-Sayed told CNN that he did not believe that a Democratic politician’s support for Israel could be about anything other than money. Earlier in the race, El-Sayed said he struggled to answer questions about whether he believed Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state and that he believed the Israeli government was just as “evil” as Hamas.
The unfolding situation in Maine comes amid a broader trend in American politics in which immoral or questionable behavior by one’s peers has at times been ignored or obfuscated to serve a perceived 'greater good'
(CJ Gunther/Getty Images)
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine.
When an ex-girlfriend of Graham Platner told Politico in a story published on Monday that the Maine Democratic Senate candidate had raped her in 2021 after entering her home while heavily intoxicated, she said she did so because the response to a recent New York Times report on Platner’s past dubious behavior had focused on discrediting Lyndsey Fifield, one of the women who featured prominently in the story, over her ties to the GOP.
Jenny Racicot, a Democrat, hadn’t wanted to go public with the rape accusation (which she had shared off-record with the Times), in part because she and Platner were largely politically aligned. “One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” Racicot told Politico. “My part of the story [in the NYT] was just a read-over,” Racicot said. “And the story was Lyndsey, and the accusations of her being politically motivated.”
The unfolding situation in Maine comes amid a broader trend in American politics in which immoral or questionable behavior by one’s peers has at times been ignored or obfuscated to serve a perceived “greater good” of electing a political ally despite their failing moral standards.
In recent years, both major parties have increasingly tolerated conduct that would have once been considered disqualifying — even as the #MeToo movement briefly changed the nature of the discourse. Similar arguments have surfaced across political controversies over the last decade (including against President Donald Trump), with supporters of embattled candidates and officials insisting that policy positions outweigh personal conduct and dismissing allegations as politically motivated.
In a short span of time, the 2017 rallying cry of “Believe women” gave way to “Believe women whose politics align with ours” — a mindset that extended to the widespread denial of Hamas’ sexual violence during the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks and against the Israeli hostages kept in captivity in Gaza.
But yesterday’s Politico report, which prompted calls from Platner’s most prominent backers — including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) — for him to end his bid, may mark the point at which previous defenses of the Maine Democrat become politically untenable.
Since shortly after the launch of his campaign, Platner — a virtual unknown before last summer — has faced numerous controversies, from his tattoo of an SS totenkopf to Reddit comments praising Hamas tactics to the revelation that he exchanged inappropriate messages with numerous women despite being married. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Platner’s vetting process — normally a weeks-long process — took place in a matter of days, expedited by Platner’s top strategist and done at a fraction of the cost of a standard background check, which likely would have flagged at least some of these issues.
Yet none of those allegations proved politically fatal — and Platner ended up winning the Democratic primary with 72% of the vote. Platner’s defenders echoed the rhetoric of many of Trump’s early backers: that the party establishment had targeted him, that the media had unfairly covered the incidents and that a candidate’s positions, rather than their personal lives, should be on the ballot.
Unlike Trump, who was weeks away from his 2016 presidential victory when the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape leaked, Platner had only recently clinched his party’s nomination after Gov. Janet Mills ended her bid. He can still be replaced on the ballot, provided he exits the race by next Monday, though any new candidate will face a much more difficult battle against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in what had been the Democrats’ best hope for a pickup and control of the Senate.
Now, the question is whether American politics still has a meaningful threshold beyond which partisan leanings give way to concerns about character and ethics — or whether that threshold has simply become much higher than it once was.
The Maine senator said she learned to reject anti-Jewish hate at a young age, inspired by her World War II veteran father and her mother who quit a sorority for excluding Jewish students
Mark Makela/Getty Images
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) addresses the press on Nov. 6, 2022.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) reiterated her criticism of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner and accused him and his supporters of antisemitism at an Orthodox Union event on Tuesday.
Speaking at the OU luncheon, Collins called out Platner for his Nazi tattoo, pointing to accounts by former romantic partners that he had described it as a Nazi symbol despite later denying that he knew what it was. She said that even though he covered up the tattoo on the campaign trail, “the stain remains.”
Collins also referenced comments from a Platner supporter who said she did not find the Nazi tattoo disqualifying but would find an Israeli tattoo to be a deal-breaker, which Collins said she found “even more distressing.”
She also repeated comments she made a day earlier on Fox News asserting that her support for Israel remains in spite of shifting political winds.
“Our support for Israel remains as strong as ever,” Collins said, to a standing ovation. “We must all stand with Israel. In my case, I learned that lesson at an early age.”
She said that her father, a World War II veteran, taught her from childhood the need to stand against evil. Collins said that her mother also taught her to reject antisemitism, noting that her mother quit her sorority in college after it rejected a fellow student because she was Jewish.
“The friendship that I share with the people of Israel is that which our true nation shares, a friendship that is anchored by common principles, a love of liberty and the courage to defend [them],” Collins said.
The GOP senator, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, also said that a major priority for her this year is to make the U.S.’ defunding of UNRWA permanent. She said that it “should not have been a close call” to cut off U.S. funding to the agency after its employees were revealed to be involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks on Israel, but that she had to “fight” to add and extend that provision in recent funding bills.
Collins said that the rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7 has “revealed … the oldest hatred is not only still alive, but sicker than ever. Tragically, the prognos is has only worsened since then.”
She praised David Greene, the president of Colby College, in her home state, which she said had not seen the anti-Israel demonstrations and encampments that plagued other colleges. Greene told her that “the key is, you do not negotiate, you do not allow this to occur,” she recalled.
She said Greene had also told her that the protests at other schools were directed by radical professors, graduate assistants and outside agitators, rather than grassroots activities.
Collins said a member of her own congressional staff was assaulted at an encampment at the University of Pittsburgh for carrying an American and an Israeli flag, and that no action was taken against his attacker — something she described as a pattern under the prior presidential administration.
“I think it shows how much we need to do to make sure that our students are [equipped] with the truth,” Collins said.
Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) also spoke at the OU event.
El-Sayed suggests anti-Israel activists indicted because of beliefs, not alleged criminal conspiracy
‘It's a lot more about what you're advocating for that gets you indicted or not indicted, rather than what you did,’ El-Sayed said
Evan Cobb for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks with customers and barbers at Blazin Wade Cuts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.
Abdul El-Sayed, the far-left Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, suggested at an event on Friday that the Trump administration had indicted a group of anti-Israel demonstrators at the University of Michigan for their beliefs, rather than their actions.
The eight defendants, including a former staffer on El-Sayed’s campaign, who were indicted Friday have been accused of a campaign of intimidation against university officials they saw as pro-Israel and vandalism of local Jewish organizations.
“It’s a lot more about what you’re advocating for that gets you indicted or not indicted, rather than what you did,” El-Sayed said, at a Friday campaign event, according to The Detroit News.
Speaking to reporters after the event, El-Sayed said that it’s “just wrong, full stop” to target families, businesses and property as the indicted individuals alleged did, but also drew a contrast between the treatment of the eight indicted individuals and the Trump administration’s mass pardon of those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“I believe in justice, because I believe that when you break the law, you should be held accountable, but I don’t love watching our justice system treat people differently based on what it is that they were advocating for,” El-Sayed said. “Targeting people, families, properties, businesses is wrong, of course it’s wrong, but it’s also wrong when Jan. 6 terrorists do it. To watch the same Trump administration use these terms in certain ways — I think we all need to be asking the questions.”
El-Sayed previously faced criticism for his response to the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich., which some saw as excusing or rationalizing the attack.
Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) on X condemned El-Sayed for his “equivocation.”
“The reported planned violence and intimidation at the University of Michigan is wrong. This is simple and any leader should be able to say so,” she said. “The fact my opponent cannot bring himself to say that is concerning.”
In remarks to reporters, she said that she was “concerned about [El-Sayed’s] repeated patterns of embracing political violence and being out of step with Michigan voters,” pointing also to his decision to rally with far-left influencer Hasan Piker at the University of Michigan.
“We need leaders who are going to showcase leadership and be the leaders that we deserve, not continue to divide us and compensate for when people commit violence or threaten violence for political purposes,” she said.
Her comments have prompted scorn from El-Sayed’s campaign and allies.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) responded to Stevens’ X post by copying Stevens’ wording to criticize Stevens for refusing to describe the war in Gaza as a genocide.
Roxie Richner, El-Sayed’s communications director, accused Stevens on X of “sid[ing] with the Trump administration” and said she “can’t string two coherent sentences together.”
“Leadership requires that you have moral clarity and can say words that make sense when put in order,” Richner continued.
Local leaders said that, without improved outreach from Talarico to address their concerns, they’re likely to vote for Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico speaks during a campaign launch rally on September 09, 2025 in Round Rock, Texas.
Jewish leaders in Texas are growing increasingly concerned about Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico’s comments on Israel, with four members of the community telling Jewish Insider that without concerted outreach from Talarico, they’re likely to back Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in the Democratic primary.
Their frustrations came to a head after Talarico accused Israel of war crimes in response to a general question on foreign policy at an event last week. “I will use every bit of financial and diplomatic leverage that this country has to end the atrocities in Palestine,” Talarico vowed to do if elected. “I will not use your tax dollars to fund these war crimes. I will vote to ban offensive weapons to Israel.”
He also said he’d refuse to accept support from AIPAC.
“I refuse to be complicit in the death and destruction in Gaza, and I will never use your tax dollars to support the killing in that part of the world, and it makes me sick to my stomach to see what’s happening,” Talarico said. “I hope in this campaign here in Texas we can send a crystal clear message to the rest of the country that we are done being complicit.”
The Texas state representative, who has studied to become a minister, said that the Gaza conflict “weighs on my heart as an educator, as someone who works with kids.”
“God is screaming at all of us in Gaza, as we speak,” he said.
In response to a later question about “what it means to protect all people, rather than only Palestinian people,” Talarico said that “all people are created in the divine image … which means every person has equal worth.”
“We shouldn’t be empowering people like [Israeli Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu who are waging war against civilians. And that is not a reflection on the Israeli people because many of you know that we have seen historic protests in Israel from Israelis against their government and against Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet,” Talarico continued.
Art Pronin, who leads the Meyerland Area Democrats Club, a largely Jewish Democratic group in the Houston area, told JI he’s known Talarico for years and the candidate has spoken to the Meyerland Democrats group. Pronin has repeatedly expressed concerns to Talarico directly and to the campaign about his Israel rhetoric, to little effect.
Pronin said he first confronted Talarico directly about the issue at the Texas Tribune festival in November, explaining that — while accusing Israel of war crimes and vowing not to accept funding from AIPAC or J Street — Talarico did not offer a word of condemnation for Hamas or its international backers, or express support for a two-state solution.
“I told him … ‘You’ve got to stop singling out one group,’” Pronin said, referring to AIPAC. He said that Talarico had apologized and said he would modify his rhetoric, but offered similar comments, unprompted, at the Houston town hall last week.
Pronin was in one of the front rows at the event, having been invited by Talarico personally. Pronin said that he again confronted Talarico and his staff after the event last week and they again apologized.
“It was the same conversation. I told him, ‘When you single out one institution over and over again, it’s dangerous.’ I explained to him why it’s dangerous: we just had a shooting in Australia this week. We had violence in New York, in the subway, a guy was stabbed in the street,” Pronin explained. “I said, ‘This is not helpful,’ and I said, ‘Somebody’s going to get hurt if you keep talking like this.’ I said, ‘You’re not balanced. You’re not talking about Hamas, you never mention [Oct. 7], you never even expressed empathy over what happened in Australia this week. And it’s Hanukkah tonight.’ I told him I was disgusted.”
Talarico has not addressed the shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney last week on social media, but did speak about it in an appearance on MSNOW’s “Politics Nation.”
“I am sending my love to our Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia and all over the world on this first night of Hanukkah,” Talarico said on Dec. 14, the day of the shooting. “It is incumbent upon all of us to confront antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head, and it was inspiring to see a Muslim man stand up for his Jewish neighbors during that deadly attack in Australia. We need that kind of interfaith solidarity all over the world if we’re going to confront these problems with truth and love, and that act of courage should inspire all of us to do the same.”
“He needs to balance his comments out,” said Art Pronin, who leads the Meyerland Area Democrats Club. “He needs to meet with our Jewish federation, our Anti-Defamation League. He needs to have that round-table meeting that I’ve tried to get him to do. He needs to hear our voices on this matter and quit repeating this everywhere he goes. He’s got to balance it out, at least.”
Pronin said that, being near the front of the crowd and having been invited by Talarico personally, he felt insulted, “threatened” and “scared” by other members of the crowd.
He said that he asked Talarico to hold a meeting with Jewish community leaders in Houston, but hasn’t heard any further followup on the subject, and feels that Talarico is ignoring his and other Jewish community members’ concerns.
“I did express to him that I might vote for Jasmine Crockett over it,” Pronin continued. “He needs to balance his comments out … he needs to meet with our Jewish federation, our Anti-Defamation League. He needs to have that round-table meeting that I’ve tried to get him to do. He needs to hear our voices on this matter and quit repeating this everywhere he goes. He’s got to balance it out, at least.”
Talarico’s campaign manager, Seth Krasne, defended Talarico’s record in a statement to JI.
“James believes every human life is sacred. His longstanding record combating antisemitism, defending Jewish students on the floor of the Texas House, and supporting Israel’s right to exist demonstrate his steadfast commitment to Jewish safety,” Krasne said.
Krasne continued, “He will continue to speak out against Prime Minister Netanyahu’s unacceptable actions that threaten civilians in Gaza — this moral clarity should never be misconstrued as opposition to the safety and security of Israeli civilians and Jewish people around the world. In the coming months, James looks forward to working with Jewish leaders to continue the important work of eradicating hate wherever it rears its ugly head.”
A source familiar with the situation told JI that Talarico will not accept campaign contributions from any advocacy group associated with either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but is willing to meet with any group about the issue.
In a statement on the two-year anniversary of the Hamas attack, Talarico said that the “horrors of October 7th, 2023 will reverberate through our hearts and minds for generations to come,” noting that the attack was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, and said that Hamas’ “war crimes should never be forgotten.”
“Every person on this Earth — no matter their color or creed — bears the image of the sacred. I continue to pray for the safe return of the hostages, an immediate end to the suffering in Gaza, and a lasting peace in the region,” he continued.
Days after the initial Hamas attack in October 2023, Talarico supported a resolution in the Texas statehouse that highlighted Hamas’ attack, its intent to destroy Israel and its use of Palestinian civilians as human shields and his support for Israel’s survival and right to “act decisively and unilaterally in self-defense to protect its citizens” and “pursue without interference or condemnation the elimination of Hamas until Hamas is permanently neutralized and public safety is assured.”
The resolution also called for the U.S. to “provide all assistance as may be required to support Israel in its defense against Hamas and all other terrorist organizations.”
“He’s very popular among the younger people and it’s very disheartening to see that he’s … going to pander to that very far-left wing progressive movement in terms of what’s going on with Israel,” Lisa Strauss, a leader in the local Jewish community, said, “especially given the fact that he’s technically in seminary to become a pastor.”
He also praised the ceasefire and hostage release agreement in November 2025, saying, “I hope this ceasefire will hold so we can achieve lasting peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis.”
Lisa Strauss, a leader in the local Jewish community who recently helped start Jewish Women Vote Houston, said that Talarico’s comments are “very disappointing.”
“He’s very popular among the younger people and it’s very disheartening to see that he’s … going to pander to that very far-left wing progressive movement in terms of what’s going on with Israel,” Strauss said, “especially given the fact that he’s technically in seminary to become a pastor.”
She expressed particular frustration at Talarico’s accusations of war crimes and other atrocities in Gaza, which she described as “propaganda,” and said that it’s “frightening” that he and so many other Democrats are taking similar stances and seem unwilling to “even open a discussion about Israel.”
“I would like to see him meet with Jewish groups and explain his stance in greater detail,” Strauss said.
She said that Talarico’s positions on Israel were a major subject of discussion at the first meeting of the Jewish women’s group, and are an issue that’s causing significant concern in her community.
“It’s definitely something that we need to look more into and be more concerned about,” Strauss said, adding that she was surprised that Crockett, an outspoken progressive on many issues, appears to be the more pro-Israel candidate in the race at the moment.
Yvette Pintar, a Jewish voter and local Jewish and Democratic leader who was also in the audience at Talarico’s event last week, said she’d heard Talarico make similar comments in the past and that they made her “uncomfortable.”
“It doesn’t provide context for what’s going on in Gaza,” Pintar said. “I have mixed feelings when I hear about, ‘I’m not taking one penny from AIPAC.’ I’m not a fan of AIPAC, so that’s OK, but it’s still very uncomfortable to hear it, when you single out one entity not to get money from in today’s world.”
“I don’t think that he’s inherently antisemitic … but I don’t think he has been very thoughtful about standing with Jews when it comes to concerns for our physical security, anywhere — overseas, here, or whatever it is,” Yvette Pintar, a Jewish voter and local Jewish and Democratic leader said. “It’s hard to believe that he has given much thought to the concerns of Jews when it comes to physical security.”
Pintar said she was particularly uncomfortable with Talarico’s answer to the follow-up question later in the event — about speaking for “all people, rather than only Palestinian people” — which she said had provided an opportunity for Talarico to commit to offering a statement of support for the Jewish community, particularly in the wake of the Sydney shooting, but felt he failed to do so.
“To me, it was so jarring not to address that, he missed a very easy and obvious opportunity to address the real anxieties that Jews and Israelis have about security. Jews right here in Texas, we had [the hostage crisis at a synagogue in] Colleyville in the not too distant past. This is right here in Texas, so I just thought that that was jarring and very concerning,” Pintar said.
“I don’t think that he’s inherently antisemitic … but I don’t think he has been very thoughtful about standing with Jews when it comes to concerns for our physical security, anywhere — overseas, here, or whatever it is,” Pintar said. “It’s hard to believe that he has given much thought to the concerns of Jews when it comes to physical security.”
Pintar said she hasn’t made up her mind on who to vote for yet, but has the “impression” that Crockett “may be better on these issues.” She said the Talarico campaign “needs to demonstrate to Jewish voters that he takes our concerns seriously. I haven’t seen anything yet that shows he has,” and particularly reassure Jews about their security.
She also said that his current approach to the conflict in Gaza “seems divisive, and that’s not what I would hope [for] from a candidate who is supposedly a peace-loving guy who is concerned with all kinds of communities.”
In a recent conversation at a fundraising event, the Maine Senate candidate claimed the Israeli government funded Hamas and also revealed he is related to Israeli author and analyst Seth Frantzman
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U.S. senatorial candidate from Maine Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine.
Like many progressives now running for Congress, Graham Platner, a Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, has made opposition to Israel a central part of his messaging.
He frequently accuses Israel of genocide in Gaza, advocates for blocking U.S. aid to Israel and is an outspoken critic of AIPAC. During a campaign event last month, Platner, a 41-year-old former Marine who runs an oyster farm, also said he believes that Israel is a terrorist state.
But more so than many candidates, the political newcomer seems particularly invested in engaging on Middle East policy, even if his views have drawn scrutiny, according to audio of a recent private discussion in which he debated about Israel with some attendees at a fundraising event in Maine for nearly 20 minutes.
Speaking at the August fundraiser, Platner defended his stances on Israel and shared previously undisclosed details about his personal ties to the region, according to the audio, recently shared with Jewish Insider.
Despite his hostile criticism of Israel, Platner said he believed that the country “has the same right to exist that every nation has to exist,” though he did not confirm whether he recognizes Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
While he said he agreed that Hamas is a terrorist organization, Platner claimed that Netanyahu had “publicly stated that” Israel was “funding Hamas to make sure that there was going to be no non-radical leadership within Gaza in order to keep a Palestinian state from happening.”
While members of Netanyahu’s coalition have made this argument — Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich referred to the terrorist organization as “an asset” as it serves as an obstacle to Palestinian statehood — the prime minister has never personally made such a claim. New York Times reporting from shortly after the Oct. 7 attacks alleged that the Israeli prime minister had allowed the Qatari government to send money into the Gaza Strip for several years in order to “maintain peace in Gaza.” Netanyahu called allegations that he was empowering Hamas “ridiculous.”
“It is difficult for me to lay the onus of everything only at the feet of the Palestinians,” he explained, “and not include the Netanyahu government.”
Platner also quibbled with an attendee who said that 1,200 Israeli civilians had been killed during the attacks, noting that a percentage of those who had died on Oct. 7 were soldiers in the Israeli military.
“It wasn’t 1,200 civilians. It was 600 military members,” Platner countered, using a number that far exceeded the approximately 300 soldiers who were killed in the attacks.
“Who were taken sleeping, unarmed, out of their beds, I’ve met families,” the attendee responded, likely referring to the tatzpitaniot, unarmed female observer soldiers, and others, who were famously killed and kidnapped in their pajamas.
“When you are wearing a uniform and carrying a gun in the service of a cause, it is difficult for me to feel that you can be called a civilian,” said Platner, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. “There is a one-way street on this,” he continued, “that I find to be disingenuous.”
The private comments suggest that Platner is not merely paying lip service to such issues on the trail, as he runs in a competitive primary against Maine Gov. Janet Mills for the Democratic nomination to unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).
Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Platner’s views on Israel and Gaza have received limited attention in recent weeks as his campaign has weathered controversy over his past incendiary Reddit posts and faced questions over when he first became aware that a skull tattoo on his chest he had for nearly 20 years resembled a Nazi symbol known as a Totenkopf.
Platner, who covered the tattoo this month, has insisted he did not know what the skull signified until recently, though reporting from JI and CNN has contradicted that claim.
He has also argued that members of his family are Jewish and never objected to the skull tattoo when he took his shirt off around them. “Eighteen years,” he told The Atlantic recently. “It’s never come up.”
In the conversation about Israel at the fundraiser, which took place before controversy ensnared his campaign, Platner noted his stepbrother is Seth Frantzman, an Israeli author, journalist and security analyst who has long worked for The Jerusalem Post and lives in Jerusalem, saying they are “very close,” according to the audio.
Frantzman, who has previously written admiringly about Platner without mention of their familial ties, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Platner also said that he had “multiple friends in B’Tselem,” the left-wing Israeli human rights group that has described Israel as an apartheid regime and accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza — as he argued that Israel is not fully a democracy.
He cited his friends from B’Tselem “who have showed me videos, who have introduced me to former soldiers, who have introduced me to Palestinians, who have laid out a very clear and, frankly, well-sourced case that Palestinians living within the borders of the occupied territories do not live in a democracy, that they do not have equal rights, that they do not have equal access to areas.”
He said that, “as an American taxpayer,” he was uncomfortable with sending continued U.S. aid to support Israel’s military.
But even as he has been deployed to the Middle East, Platner confirmed that he had never visited Israel.
The former NC governor: He ‘generally does not believe we should withhold aid from a critical ally like Israel when they have to defend themselves against countries like Iran’
Allison Joyce/Getty Images
Former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper
North Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Roy Cooper, the state’s former governor, rejected efforts to withhold U.S. aid to Israel, days after the Senate voted on legislation to block certain U.S. arms sales to Israel, his campaign told Jewish Insider.
“The Governor believes it’s urgent for the United States to use other means of pressure on the Israeli government to step up now and find ways to get food to people who desperately need it and return the hostages,” a Cooper campaign aide said. “He would consider the specific text of any bills that came before the Senate, but generally does not believe we should withhold aid from a critical ally like Israel when they have to defend themselves against countries like Iran.”
Cooper, a moderate Democrat, has taken other steps in recent days to distance himself from anti-Israel elements of the Democratic Party, including rejecting a series of anti-Israel resolutions passed by state Democratic Party leadership. But it wasn’t until he entered the Senate race that he weighed in against the anti-Israel turn of the North Carolina Democratic party.
The Senate’s Israel votes are proving to be a sensitive issue among Democratic Senate candidates across the country — and is emerging as a dividing line between the party’s moderates and progressives.
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