COMMERCE, Mich. — As former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) campaigns for the open Senate seat in Michigan, he is not shy about his support for Israel. But he has lately encountered more people pushing back on American support for the Jewish state, and he is worried not enough is being done, including in his own party, to fight that trend. 

“I don’t think we have an effort to counter the [anti-Israel] narrative,” Rogers, a former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, told Jewish Insider in an interview near Detroit last week. “You don’t have to love Israel, but you have to respect the fact that the nation is trying to defend itself and its people who have maybe, probably, the most horrific history of being treated in the world of any other race on planet earth.”

Rogers is the only major Republican candidate in the Senate race, while three Democrats are locked in a tight battle for the nomination, with several months still to go until the August primary. He narrowly lost to Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in the state’s closely-contested 2024 Senate election, after having previously served in Congress from 2001 to 2015.

Rogers recounted a recent conversation with a woman who worked in Republican politics and grew up Christian, who told him that she is now not sure whether to support Israel. 

“This is her word: ‘I always believed we were supposed to be for Israel. It’s in the Bible, it’s part of our faith. We have to,’” he recalled. “She said, ‘This is the first time I’ve had doubts.’ And I said, ‘Really? Why?’ And she said, ‘Well, my children are coming to me with all of this stuff,’ and it’s all social media driven.” 

Asked about the burgeoning influence of far-right antisemitic influencers like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, Rogers said he is concerned about growing antisemitism on the right, although he thinks the problem is worse on the political left. 

“I do think on the right, we’ve got to be careful it doesn’t creep into the mainstream. I do still think it’s fringe, and we need to make sure that candidates who don’t feel that way, candidates who are more open to conversation about it, get elected, so that we can push back on that,” said Rogers. 

President Donald Trump has met with Carlson numerous times in the White House this year. Rogers doesn’t think that’s a problem, though he wants to see Carlson’s ideas disputed.

“I always believe that if I can sit in a room with you, I don’t care how much I disagree with you, you’ll probably find some common ground. I would say we need to keep talking, and we need to make sure that people understand that that’s not right, have that debate — I’m OK with debate,” said Rogers. “We just don’t want him to be a louder voice than his rhetoric would seem, because it’s dangerous.” 

Two weeks earlier, an armed gunman drove a truck filled with explosives into Temple Israel, a synagogue in suburban Detroit. He fired at security guards before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in an incident where no one else died, but left the community badly shaken.

“It didn’t take a life, but it’s sure going to have some emotional impacts for people for a while,” Rogers said. “The theme I hear the most is just how antisemitism is becoming more normal. It used to be so ostracized.” 

Rogers said fighting antisemitism in the state must begin at universities.

“Once I’m elected, we’re going to sit down with college presidents and we’re going to look at their mitigation plans, and we’re going to talk about it. We’re going to have hard conversations with them,” Rogers explained. “You can’t allow virtue signaling to become a thing, and now it’s where people are, because they want to virtual signal that they’re for the little guy. I’ve never seen such ignorance about an issue in my life, and people so certain about their opinion.” 

In recent days, Rogers has criticized Abdul El-Sayed, one of his Democratic opponents, for announcing that he will host campaign rallies at the University of Michigan and Michigan State with the far-left antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker. 

“My problem with Hasan is, I think he’s a blatant antisemite, No. 1. But No. 2, he’s anti-American,” said Rogers. “At a time when we have men and women, very brave, courageous men and women standing tall for the United States of America, taking risks in the United States military, they’re on college campuses trying to get kids whipped up about how America is the bad guy.” 

Rogers tied the antisemitic attack in Michigan to a broader wave of political violence. 

“Just think about the last year. There’s legislators in Minnesota who were hunted down and killed, Charlie Kirk’s assassination,” he said. “Obviously, the Jewish community is a specific target by, unfortunately, extremist voices here in America. But political violence — you look at how it’s crept into the language of people.” 

Former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), making his second bid for Michigan’s Senate seat, is leaning into his support for the Trump administration’s decision to strike Iran’s nuclear program on the campaign trail. 

Rogers emphasized, in an interview with Jewish Insider last week, that he has long been suspicious and concerned about Iran’s nuclear program and other malign activities dating back to his time as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee in the early 2010s, when he had access to highly classified information.

“I couldn’t have supported [the operation] more,” Rogers, who served in the House from 2001 to 2015, said. “I was for all of this when it wasn’t very cool to be for all of this.”

The former lawmaker said he believes that Iran was much closer to a nuclear weapon than many believe, noting that its development of advanced supercomputers would likely have allowed it to reliably simulate a nuclear weapons test, an undetectable alternative to actually testing a nuclear bomb.

“I believe, on the day that Trump went in, that they had all three components” of a nuclear weapon: highly enriched uranium, a weapon and a delivery system using a ballistic missile, Rogers said. “They just didn’t have them assembled.”

He said that the “urgency of which Israel undertook their mission” suggests to him that Iran was working to bring those three elements of a nuclear weapon together. 

Rogers added that the U.S. and Israel need to take seriously Iran’s threat to wipe out Israel if it obtains a nuclear weapon.

Rogers said that the destruction of much of Iran’s enrichment capacity — particularly the strikes on Fordow — and many of its missile launchers, as well as its anti-aircraft capabilities, put Iran on its back foot if it attempts to reconstitute its program. He predicted it would take Iran years to regain access to Fordow, if it attempts to do so.

“What I have said publicly is, I believe we should leave the option on the table for another round of attacks targeted at their nuclear capability,” Rogers continued. “I don’t care if it’s in uranium enrichment stockpiles, delivery equipment … there’s always the possibility you might find another centrifuge effort somewhere.”

He said that making clear that the U.S. is prepared to act again will help force Iran back to the negotiating table and rebut Iranian deception and stalling tactics in negotiations.

The U.S. strikes could create heated political dynamics in Michigan in the upcoming election cycle, as the war in Gaza did in the 2024 election, in the Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities. 

When speaking to Arab and Muslim voters, Rogers said he emphasizes the ways that the Iranian regime has hurt the Muslim world, saying it has killed many more Muslims and Americans than it has Jews and that its support for groups like Hamas and Hezbollah has destabilized the region and undermined opportunity and prosperity.

“My argument is this may be the first step. I think this is the most consequential time in American, Israeli and Middle East politics in my lifetime, because I think the president set the tone for real peace,” Rogers said.

Rogers added: “I am against military adventurism, I think it’s a terrible idea for the country. What you saw here, and this is how I explain it to them — this is very surgical. … If you’re going to tout peace through strength, you have to show the strength path. Iran was undeterred up to this point.”

He described potential future talks with Iran as on a fundamentally different footing than they have been in the past: now, he argued, the debate is not over details like International Atomic Energy Agency inspection schedules, but a more comprehensive and permanent solution and peace.

Rogers added that he keeps his message on Middle East policy consistent regardless of whether he’s addressing Jewish or Muslim audiences.

“You can’t say one thing to one group and another thing to another. It never works,” Rogers said. “But if they know where you’re at and they can articulate why you’re there and why support of Israel is so important, both to me personally, but I think to the country … and Republicans, we talk about it too, that’s this debate, should we or shouldn’t we.” 

Rogers is looking like the early favorite to emerge as the GOP nominee for the seat of retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). He is backed by Senate Republican leaders, as well as Trump campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita. But Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) is considering challenging Rogers in the primary. 

Rogers described himself as “one of the first folks” to raise alarms about the Joint Plan of Action, the precursor to the Obama administration’s nuclear deal, during his time in the House.

“I thought we were engaging and empowering Iran in a way that seemed to me that the Obama administration just didn’t understand, or didn’t want to understand, who Iran is, what their intentions are, and when they say they want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth, they actually mean it,” Rogers said.

He also said that he was among the first to sound the alarm about the Houthis, in 2013 or 2014.

“I said that if we don’t do something about the Houthis … we’re going to have a problem, and it’s going to be a problem for Israel, our greatest ally in the region, and our security as well,” Rogers said. He visited Yemen at the time and said he watched in real time as the group grew its capabilities and deepened its ties to Iran, at the same time that the situation in Yemen deteriorated.

“We couldn’t get people interested in [it] enough to understand what the threat was,” Rogers said. Going forward, “I would make sure that the Houthis understand what U.S. intention and Israeli intention is, if they continue to shoot at our sailors in our commercial enterprise in the region.”

“Those attacks on Fordow, that was the U.S. showing strength,” Rogers continued, invoking the motto of “peace through strength.” “Now let’s get to the peace part, but you also may have to reduplicate that in a few places to get people’s attention.”

Prior to his service in Congress, Rogers was an FBI agent, during which time he said he was involved in tracking down Iraqi agents inside the United States, during the first Gulf War. He said that there are some parallels between those “sleeper cells” and Iran’s more recent efforts to infiltrate and carry out operations in the United States.

“Here’s what I worry about — the difference between the Iraqi operations and what I know that Iran had the capabilities then as well,” Rogers said. “The Iranians will be, I think, more loyal to their mission than the Iraqis. … By the time [the Iraqis] lived here for 10 years, they thought, ‘This America thing is pretty good. I don’t know if I want to screw this up.’ I think the Iranian threat is much worse than the Iraqi threat at that time because they’re more passionate about it.”

He emphasized that Iran’s operations globally, including in the U.S., have been “pretty aggressive,” and serious in their planning and intentions and have disregarded potential civilian casualties.

“You need to reassign some agent manpower here to make sure you’re dealing with it” and get ahead of the Iranians before they can execute their plans, Rogers said. “Sometimes just including letting them know, ‘We know who you are, we know where you live, we know what you’re doing.’ That stuff can be a pretty good deterrence sometimes.”

Former Rep. Mike Rogers’ (R-MI) Senate campaign recently named a conservative influencer with an extensive history of anti-Israel posts as county chair for his campaign in five counties — but Rogers distanced himself from the volunteer’s views on the Middle East in an interview with Jewish Insider. 

Rogers’ campaign announced on X on June 16 that it had named 100-plus county chairs across the state. Among those, Jackson Karki was named as a county chair for the Upper Peninsula counties of Baraga, Delta, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Marquette. Karki on both his own X account and an alternate account, Red Lion Politics, has a history of anti-Israel commentary that has veered into antisemitic tropes. 

The Red Lion Politics account identifies Karki in its bio as the account owner, and both accounts identify their owners as being from Marquette, Mich.

On Red Lion Politics, Karki has claimed at various points over the past several years that “Israel controls us” and “the Republican Party is owned by the Israel lobby,” he has called for the U.S. to “stop being suckers for Israel please” and asked, “When we will we have a president or politician that’s not in love with Israel?”

He has also said repeatedly that he does not support Israel — often adding that he does not support Palestine or Iran either — and said that “we should cut military ties and funding to Israel, whose actions often don’t align with our values or interests.” He has called for cutting off ties to various other U.S. allies as well, including Ukraine.

The Red Lion Politics account also declared that, “Some Zionists hold beliefs that clash with my Christian faith, including views that disparage Jesus Christ, making it impossible for me to blindly support Israel’s government or its policies.”

During the recent Israel-Iran war, Karki declared at various points, “If Israel attacks Iran without our consent they would’ve lost all my respect I had left for them,” “Warned you all to stop supporting Israel and Palestine. We shouldn’t be giving them the time of day” and “we ain’t praying for Israel or Iran,” while also declaring, “Israel is gonna be fine. They have nothing to fear.”

Karki’s anti-Israel commentary has extended to his personal account, saying “Republicans need to stop shilling for Israel” and “stop shilling for Israel.” Just months before those posts, in 2021, however, he posted “I stand with Israel!”

Karki could not be reached for comment.

In an interview with JI, Rogers emphasized that Karki is just one of thousands of volunteers who have worked with his campaign.

“When you’re in a state like Michigan, you’re going to have people who want to help you for a whole host of reasons. And it doesn’t mean that they’re going to agree with me 100% or I may agree with them 100%,” Rogers said. “We had Muslim volunteers, we had Chaldean volunteers, we had Sunnis and Shia volunteers. We had a huge Jewish coalition.”

“This is not a paid person. He’s a volunteer, and he wants to make a change for the larger representation of his views, which he believes that I’m that guy to do that,” Rogers continued. “Obviously I disagree with many of his comments there, but he’s also engaged in the debate that’s happening very robustly on the Republican side.”

Rogers emphasized that he is a staunch supporter of Israel and strongly supports the U.S. operations against Iran, adding that the U.S. can be “engaged in the world without being entangled in the world.” And he said he does not hide his views from any of his supporters, even when they see issues differently.

Rogers worked aggressively during his previous Senate campaign in 2024 to appeal to Michigan’s sizable Jewish community, particularly those who were disaffected with the Democratic Party’s positions on Israel — while at the same time reaching out to Muslim and Arab constituencies that held negative views towards Israel. 

He said that any volunteers, in their activities for the campaign, “are representing my views and my position, not representing their views and their position.” He described the county chairs as points of contact for others to talk to about getting yard signs or literature or volunteering with the campaign.

“If you go through every list of every candidate, I’m sure there’s people that disagree with every candidate they’ve handed out literature for,” he said.

The exterior of University of Michigan Board of Regents member Jordan Acker’s law office was vandalized overnight on Monday with the phrases “FREE PALESTINE,” “DIVEST NOW,” “FUCK YOU ACKER” and “UM KILLS” scrawled on the walls, walkway and front window. The incident is the second time during the Israel-Hamas war that Acker, who is Jewish, has been targeted by anti-Israel demonstrators. 

“It’s a disgusting escalation and pure antisemitism,” Acker, who is a former Obama administration official and has sat on the school’s Board of Regents since 2018, told Jewish Insider. “This has nothing to do with Palestine. I am one of eight [regents] and I was the only person targeted. I believe that’s because I’m Jewish. I believe this was a message to be sent to the Jewish community.”  

According to video footage obtained by the Goodman Acker personal injury law firm, which is located in a heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Southfield — about 30 minutes away from the University of Michigan campus in Ann Arbor — the incident occurred at approximately 2 a.m. when four masked individuals splattered the front walkway, the sign over the door and the building’s walls with red and black spray paint and the antisemitic and anti-Israel messages.

Southfield police told local newspaper Deadline Detroit that the department responded to a 911 call Monday morning and is investigating the matter. “The investigation is in its infancy,” Lt. Mo Bzeih said. “We want to gather the preliminary facts before we put out a statement. We’re canvassing the area.” 

“The vandalism that occurred at Regent Jordan Acker’s place of business is shocking and unacceptable,” University of Michigan’s president, Santa Ono, said in a statement. “Singling out this dedicated public servant and defacing his workplace in the middle of the night is an act of antisemitic cowardice that Southfield police have indicated is being investigated as a hate crime. Such harassment and attempts to intimidate have no place in a civil society and certainly no place in our university community.”

Many Michigan lawmakers and candidates for office expressed support for Acker and condemned the incident. Republican Senate candidate and former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) tagged the incident as antisemitic, while his Democratic opponent, Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) called it “intimidation related to the Middle East conflict.”

“We have yet another instance of the use of intimidation related to the Middle East conflict. If your ‘protest’ tactics include vandalism and violent language, you’re not protesting — you’re breaking the law and discrediting your cause at the same time,” Slotkin said in a statement. “And anyone carrying that out should be held legally accountable.” 

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) said in a statement to JI, “Vandalism and acts of violence and hate against anyone for any reason are completely unacceptable. I condemn these actions in the strongest terms. Hate is being normalized in too many communities, and we must stand up to hate wherever and whenever we see it.”

Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) wrote on X, “Jordan Acker and the Goodman Acker law firm have my love and support… so many drive by his place of work every day and it’s painful to see this attack on a place of business. Today and everyday, I denounce Jewish hate with every fiber in my being.”   

Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) told JI in a statement, “I condemn today’s antisemitic attack on University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker’s Office in Southfield. While everyone has a right to express their views, there is absolutely no place for vandalism or violent rhetoric of any kind of in our state. It’s up to all of us to call out these attacks targeting Michiganders for who they are or their religion.”

Last month, as Acker, his wife and three daughters were asleep, his doorbell app obtained footage of a stranger wearing a red keffiyeh over his face walking up to the family’s front door. He stood there for several moments, placed papers on the door and took photographs before leaving. The incident occurred in the wake of University of Michigan police breaking up an anti-Israel illegal encampment on the Diag, the main quad, that engulfed the campus for nearly a month. One of the papers, a list of demands for the leadership of the University of Michigan, was signed: “In liberation, the UMich Gaza Solidarity Encampment.”

Jewish Insider congressional correspondent Emily Jacobs and senior national correspondent Gabby Deutch contributed reporting.