In a video message directed at disaffected moderates, Rogers said ‘the fight is far greater than just left versus right. The fight is for the very soul of our nation’
Sarah Rice/Getty Images
Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers speaks at his election watch party
Add JewishInsider on GoogleAddressing Michigan Democrats in a videotaped message, Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers said that the “vast majority of people” rejecting Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed — whose bid he framed as a “campaign filled with anger, divisiveness, calls for violence and the views that are out of touch with your values”— have “a home with us.”
“If you’re among the majority of Democratic voters that woke up on Wednesday feeling hopeless because the person who won does not represent your values, well, just know there is still hope,” Rogers said seated next to his wife, in a 90-second video message released on Friday.
“Michigan deserves a senator who is ready to sit with you, hear from you and represent you.
The parents across Michigan who want an education system that sets up their kids for success have a home with us. Grandparents across Michigan who are heartbroken from watching their kids and grandkids leave the state, you have a home with us,” he continued.
“To young people who are looking for real solutions to our housing affordability crisis, you have a home with us. To families who don’t want higher taxes and lower paychecks, you have a home with us. The fight is far greater than just left versus right. The fight is for the very soul of our nation. Over the next 90 days, I’m going to work hard to earn your trust, to earn your support and earn your vote.”
Most Democrats quickly coalesced behind El-Sayed after he narrowly clinched victory in Michigan’s Democratic primary on Wednesday morning, while Republicans quickly attacked El-Sayed’s extremist history and ties.
Just before he was declared winner, El-Sayed doubled down on his criticism of Israel on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe,” calling the Jewish state “bloodthirsty” and saying his critiques go beyond the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Plus, Hawaii's sleeper House race
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Abdul El-Sayed speaks to supporters at an election-night rally at the Majestic Theatre on August 04, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan.
Good Thursday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we cover the fallout from Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory over Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, and talk to Jewish Democrats in the state who are considering crossing party lines to vote for GOP nominee Mike Rogers in the November election. We report on the obstacles facing Rep. Ed Case ahead of a challenge from his left in Saturday’s primary in Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District, and cover a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing examining Muslim Brotherhood networks and affiliates in the United States. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Benny Stanislawski, Tom Kahn and Gianni Infantino.
We also have a new on-demand Live Briefingthat you can access throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and on our website.
Today’s Daily Kickoff was curated by JI Israel Editor Tamara Zieve and U.S. Editor Danielle Cohen-Kanik. Have a tip? Email us here.
What We’re Watching
- U.S.-led talks between Israel and Lebanon in Rome are slated to conclude today, after yesterday’s discussion was cut short by several hours “due to events on the ground,” the State Department said.
- The decision to pause talks came after the IDF conducted strikes in southern Lebanon over what it said were “blatant violations” of the ongoing ceasefire by Hezbollah, including an incident in which two IDF reservists were killed and four seriously wounded by an explosive device in southern Lebanon.
- Reports continue to indicate Iran and Oman are inching toward a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after earlier agreements on the issue fell apart. An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday that Tehran and Muscat were close to finalizing an agreement, so long as “certain parties do not obstruct this process” — an apparent reference to the U.S.
- Tennessee is holding its primary elections today. In the state’s 5th District, Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), a far-right lawmaker, is facing a serious primary challenge from Charlie Hatcher, a former state commissioner of agriculture.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MATTHEW KASSEL
Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory over Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in Michigan’s bruising Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday is forcing many Jewish leaders in the state to confront an uncomfortable decision as they now look ahead to the general election in November.
Several Jewish Democrats in the battleground state are now indicating that they will break with a party they have long called home and instead vote for the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers, in the November election, citing their continued alarm over El-Sayed’s hostile rhetoric toward Israel as well as remarks they have interpreted as indifferent to rising antisemitism, among other concerns.
“I can’t vote for El-Sayed,” Michael Horowitz, a Jewish community leader and Detroit businessman who supported Stevens, a pro-Israel moderate, told Jewish Insider. “So many things I find despicable about him, not the least of which is his close association with Hasan Piker,” the antisemitic Twitch streamer, who Horowitz said “demeans America, demeans Jews and demeans all but the most radical among us.”
Horowitz confirmed he was now “leaning strongly to Rogers,” a former congressman who narrowly lost in his bid for Senate last cycle. “And I have heard from many in the Jewish community who say they will be supporting Rogers,” he said on Wednesday.
Hannan Lis, a Democratic fundraiser and Jewish leader who splits his time between Michigan and Israel, was among those who had told JI before the primary that he would vote for Rogers in the general election if El-Sayed won the nomination, noting he knows “many” Jewish Democrats who plan to do the same.
His reservations about Republicans preserving their Senate majority by picking up the Michigan seat held by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), he clarified, were superseded by his objections to El-Sayed’s stances on Israel and responses to antisemitism. “El-Sayed is no Democrat,” he claimed.
CASE STUDY
Generational challenge threatens Ed Case in Hawaii’s under-the-radar primary
Rep. Ed Case (D-HI), a moderate pro-Israel Democrat in Hawaii who was first elected to the House in 2002, has not drawn a serious primary threat in several years. Now, as he prepares to defend his seat in a primary on Saturday that has largely flown under the radar, some Democrats are warning that the 73-year-old could be at risk of losing to a younger challenger capitalizing on a national political environment that has proven unfavorable to Democratic incumbents amid broader calls for generational change from the party’s activist base, Jewish Insider’s Matthew Kassel reports.
While you were sleeping: “It’s one of those sleeper races where there’s definitely an upset brewing,” said a Democratic operative who worked on the Case campaign until a few months ago, speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid professional reprisals. “Ed is running a poor race,” the former staffer told JI, echoing other observers who described a sluggish approach in which Case has largely foregone campaign events and avoided debates with his opposition.
ON THE HILL
Cruz links El-Sayed’s victory to Muslim Brotherhood network in United States
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), speaking at a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing on Wednesday that he organized to examine Muslim Brotherhood networks and affiliates in the U.S., suggested that Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was tied to such networks and that his Democratic primary win represented a victory for them. “Behind El-Sayed’s political rise sits a much older and more entrenched institutional network,” Cruz asserted, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Zoom out: Kyle Shideler, a senior analyst for homeland security and counterterrorism at the Center for Security Policy, testified under questioning from Cruz that El-Sayed’s win concerned him given the nominee’s father-in-law’s ties to Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and El-Sayed’s own relationship with groups connected to the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “It shows the success of the Muslim Brotherhood network over multiple decades. It achieved what they said they were going to achieve, which was to normalize support for Hamas and normalize support for terrorism,” Shideler said.
COMMUNITY CONCERN
Jewish Dems ‘disappointed’ in Michigan Senate results, stop short of endorsing El-Sayed
Jewish groups expressed concern on Wednesday about the victory of Abdul El-Sayed in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan, highlighting his extreme rhetoric on Israel and the broader rise of the far left, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Reactions: Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Halie Soifer said in a statement that the group was “disappointed” by the results of the primary, in which the group had endorsed and campaigned strongly for Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI). Soifer congratulated but stopped short of endorsing El-Sayed. AIPAC, while declining to preview specific plans, indicated it intends to stay engaged in the Michigan race through November. “Our members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” spokesperson Deryn Sousa told JI.
Trump’s take: President Donald Trump, speaking at an event in Las Vegas on Wednesday, said al-Sayed “hates Jews and he hates Israel,” adding, “He’s a man of hate, and now he’s going around saying, ‘Oh I love everybody.’ He doesn’t love everybody. Put him in office, and you’re going to find out what he loves.”
WITHHOLDING SUPPORT
Moderate Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten does not offer endorsement of El-Sayed
Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-MI), a moderate Michigan lawmaker representing a swing district, broke with most other Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation in declining to offer an explicit endorsement of Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, after offering strident criticism of him during the primary campaign, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod and Matthew Shea report.
What she said: “Congratulations to everyone who participated in Michigan’s hard-fought primary elections last night, and thank you to every voter who made your voice heard. In these close elections, we want you to know — you are HEARD,” Scholten said in a statement that did not mention El-Sayed. “Now our focus turns forward. I’ve always said I’ll work with anyone committed to lowering costs, expanding affordable health care, creating more opportunity, and fighting corruption. I mean that.”
Phone a friend: New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani refused to close the door on a trip to Michigan to campaign for El-Sayed, whom Mamdani praised for what he described as a focus on “the concerns of working-class Americans” — even as he tried to explain away El-Sayed’s poor performance in the areas where working-class voters live, JI’s Will Bredderman reports.
RACE RHETORIC
El-Sayed calls Israel ‘bloodthirsty’ in first post-primary TV interview
Appearing on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday, Abdul El-Sayed doubled down on his criticism of Israel, calling the Jewish state “bloodthirsty” and saying his critiques go beyond the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jewish Insider’s Danielle Cohen-Kanik reports.
What he said: “I think we’ve seen the worst of what the Israeli government has done [under Netanyahu] but don’t forget that we’ve been talking about an illegal apartheid regime for a very, very long time, and that supersedes Netanyahu himself,” El-Sayed said. “I understand that Netanyahu is a big reason why they’ve gotten so aggressive and frankly so bloodthirsty under his reign, but I also understand that it’s impossible for us to say we want a two-state solution while we’ve been aiding, arming and abetting the very people who have been trying to foreclose on the possibility of a Palestinian state.”
It’s all over: Democrats quickly coalesced behind El-Sayed after the far-left candidate narrowly clinched victory in Michigan’s Democratic primary on Wednesday morning, while Republicans quickly pounced on his extremist history and ties, JI’s Marc Rod reports.
Worthy Reads
Reassessing Reality: The Atlantic‘s Jonathan Chait contends that, in order to wrest back their party from the far left, moderate Democrats will have to reevaluate some of their core stances, including support for AIPAC and Israel. “Fending off a leftist insurgency will be all but impossible unless Democrats reject AIPAC’s endorsements and stop supporting unconditional aid for an Israel that no longer works toward a two-state solution. Democrats also have to stop passively allowing multiple candidates to split the mainstream vote while the leftist vote consolidates behind a single candidate, as occurred in Michigan’s Seventh District and the Wisconsin governor’s race. But the greatest challenge for mainstream liberals is to find a way to engage in and win the substantive argument with the left.” [TheAtlantic]
Lemons into Lemonade: Tablet‘s Jacob Siegel argues that the U.S.-Israel alliance is loosening, and that the moment presents an opportunity for Israel to reduce its dependence on Washington and diversify its alliances. “A greater degree of separation between the United States and Israel is not only inevitable, it is desirable. Many supporters of Israel seem to be aware only of the significant challenges that this will create for the small country. They overlook the significant opportunities it presents for Israel’s growth. … With the chapter closing on its role as an outsize client state, Israel needs to develop itself as an independent regional power that is a desirable partner by virtue of its ability to innovate technologies and project force.” [Tablet]
Fashion Faux Pas: In The New York Times, John Galliano biographer Dana Thomas cautions against the decision by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to honor the designer, who was convicted of antisemitic abuse after praising Adolf Hitler. “Not all great creators deserve a retrospective, and someone as incendiary as Mr. Galliano certainly shouldn’t be the subject of one during his lifetime, when he stands to profit from the honor personally. With ‘John Galliano: Horizons,’ the Met and Ms. Wintour are selling the idea that they can tell the rest of us how to think about a difficult and divisive figure. Maybe they didn’t notice that idea has gone badly out of fashion.” [NYTimes]
Find more Worthy Reads in our Live Briefing via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Word on the Street
Asked about an Axios report that claimed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “confronted” him over their diverging policy views during his visit to Washington last week, Vice President JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, “He didn’t confront me. We had a nice and frank conversation. … I would describe it as a pleasant but direct conversation”…
The White House denied a Washington Post report that President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth clashed last week at Camp David over the war in Iran; the Post reported that the president asked why he had been misled about a shortage of munitions…
A group of far-right figures, including Tucker Carlson, outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and former National Counterterrorism Center head Joe Kent — who gathered over the weekend at Carlson’s Maine home — are considering launching a third-party political organization…
The Israeli Foreign Ministry denounced a joint statement adopted by Arab states — including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan and Egypt, among others — whose foreign ministers convened in Jordan on Wednesday to discuss Israel’s policies in Jerusalem and said that Israel, which the statement claimed “has no sovereignty” over the city, had “alter[ed] the Arab Islamic and Christian identity of occupied Jerusalem”…
The IDF is investigating a reported arson attack by Israeli settlers in a Palestinian village in the West Bank overnight in which suspects allegedly set fire to homes and attacked residents, including children…
A new Israel Democracy Institute survey found that a majority of Israelis believes the integrity of the October election is in danger…
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen said on Wednesday that they struck a Saudi oil tanker in the northern Red Sea, escalating the group’s stated blockade against Riyadh and strikes on Saudi ships that have thus far been focused in the southern Red Sea, near the Bab el-Mandeb strait…
James Stavridis, former supreme allied commander of NATO, argues in Bloomberg that a Saudi-led naval coalition could help protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks, though it would likely still require U.S. and European intelligence and logistical support to be effective…
An Azerbaijani official said on Turkish TV that Baku lobbied Israel to stop the Knesset from voting to recognize the Armenian genocide…
FIFA officials gathered in Morocco this week reaffirmed their support for Gianni Infantino, days after the FIFA president faced widespread criticism from within the organization over a plan to privatize elements of the World Cup…
The Atlantic investigates whether al-Qaida, 25 years after the 9/11 attacks, is quietly rebuilding or if its core organization is effectively defunct…
A new poll shows left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva‘s lead over conservative challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, narrowing ahead of the country’s October elections…
Benny Stanislawski, previously the communications director for Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), is joining Pennsylvania Democrat Bob Brooks‘ congressional campaign as communications director…
American University’s School of Public Affairs named Tom Kahn as director of its Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies; Kahn, who served as acting director for the past year, was the longest-serving staff director in history for the House Budget Committee…
Find on-demand Live Briefing updates throughout the day via our new app (on Apple and Android) and website.
Pic of the Day
The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law hosted 34 law students from leading law schools, including Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, NYU and Vanderbilt, for its three-day Law Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., this week. The students received training in civil rights law, Title VI, free speech and advocacy on behalf of Jewish students from a range of experts, including Brandeis Center founder Ken Marcus, pictured here addressing attendees.
Birthdays
Actor, director, producer and screenwriter, Soleil Moon Frye turns 50…
Retired founding partner of the Jaffe Family Law Group, Daniel J. Jaffe turns 89… Esports executive and casino owner, he is a three-time bracelet winner at the World Series of Poker, Lyle Berman turns 85… Professor emerita and former dean at Bar Ilan University, Malka Elisheva Schaps turns 78… Film director, television director, producer and screenwriter, Brian Michael Levant turns 74… Austrian businessman with many U.S., Israeli and Eastern European investments, Martin Schlaff turns 73… Former state treasurer of Virginia and then state secretary of finance, she is now a gourmet popcorn manufacturer, Jody Moses Wagner turns 71… Professor of public diplomacy at The Fletcher School of Tufts University, she was formerly undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, Tara D. Sonenshine turns 67… Professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The George Washington University Medical Center, Alan J. Lipman, Ph.D. turns 66… Israeli diplomat, he served as Israel’s consul general in NYC between 2000 and 2004, Alon Pinkas turns 65… NASA astronaut who spent 198 days on the International Space Station, he brought 18 bagels from his family’s bagel store in Montreal into space, Gregory Chamitoff turns 64… Chair of White & Case’s white collar practice group, Joel M. Cohen… Executive director of public affairs and policy communications at the American Council on Education, Jonathan Riskind… CEO of Elluminate (formerly known as the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York), Melanie Roth Gorelick… Vice chair of Jewish California and a board member of JFNA and JCRC Bay Area, Susie Sorkin… Television and radio sports anchor on ESPN and ABC, he was one-half of the “Mike & Mike” team but now hosts his own ESPN morning program, Mike Greenberg turns 59… Chief economist at The Burning Glass Institute, Gad Levanon, Ph.D…. Law professor and associate dean at Michigan State University College of Law, David Blankfein-Tabachnick turns 55… Former boxing commentator and co-host of ESPN’s “This Just In,” Yiddish speaking Max Kellerman turns 53… Co-founder and former CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick turns 50… Founder and CEO at Climb Together which helps prepare people from low-income backgrounds for entry level jobs, Nitzan Pelman… Screenwriter and television producer, he is best known for creating and executive producing the Fox teen drama “The O.C.,” Joshua Ian Schwartz turns 50… Former comms director for Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral general election campaign, Jeffrey Lerner… Creative director and visual strategist, Rachel Gogel… Member of the New York State Assembly, Simcha Eichenstein turns 43… Winner of two gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he is now CEO of Gather Campgrounds north of Austin, Garrett Weber-Gale turns 41… Director of strategy and policy at K2 Space Corporation, he is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, Corey A. Jacobson… Reporter at San Antonio Express-News, Elizabeth Teitz… Special advisor at the Department of Homeland Security and former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Hunter Pollack turns 29…
Several Jewish Democrats in the battleground state are now indicating that they will break with a party they have long called home and instead vote for the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers, in the November election
Scott Olson/Getty Images
Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan Abdul El-Sayed visits a polling place as residents cast their votes on August 04, 2026 in Dearborn, Michigan.
Abdul El-Sayed’s narrow victory over Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in Michigan’s bruising Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday is forcing many Jewish leaders in the state to confront an uncomfortable decision as they now look ahead to the general election in November.
Several Jewish Democrats in the battleground state are now indicating that they will break with a party they have long called home and instead vote for the Republican nominee, Mike Rogers, in the November election, citing their continued alarm over El-Sayed’s hostile rhetoric toward Israel as well as remarks they have interpreted as indifferent to rising antisemitism, among other concerns.
“I can’t vote for El-Sayed,” Michael Horowitz, a Jewish community leader and Detroit businessman who supported Stevens, a pro-Israel moderate, told Jewish Insider. “So many things I find despicable about him, not the least of which is his close association with Hasan Piker,” the antisemitic Twitch streamer, who Horowitz said “demeans America, demeans Jews and demeans all but the most radical among us.”
Horowitz confirmed he was now “leaning strongly to Rogers,” a former congressman who narrowly lost in his bid for Senate last cycle. “And I have heard from many in the Jewish community who say they will be supporting Rogers,” he said on Wednesday.
Hannan Lis, a Democratic fundraiser and Jewish leader who splits his time between Michigan and Israel, was among those who had told JI before the primary that he would vote for Rogers in the general election if El-Sayed won the nomination, noting he knows “many” Jewish Democrats who plan to do the same.
His reservations about Republicans preserving their Senate majority by picking up the Michigan seat held by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), he clarified, were superseded by his objections to El-Sayed’s stances on Israel and responses to antisemitism. “El-Sayed is no Democrat,” he claimed.
Dennis Bernard, a Jewish leader in Michigan who backed both Rogers and Stevens in their respective primaries, said that the “word is out on a few Rogers fundraisers targeting historical Jewish Dems,” efforts that he described as “co-led” with Jewish Democratic donors.
“Candidly,” he added, “the only area that may not jump on Rogers is the highly progressive Ann Arbor community,” which he called “very small.”
Bernard, national chair of government relations at the Jewish Federations of North America, told JI that it would likely take a few more days for such events to materialize as donors now “settle down and organize” in the wake of the primary. “Everyone is jumping in,” he said.
One Democratic fundraiser in Michigan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to address a sensitive subject, said he was “absolutely certain” that “several large Jewish Dem donors” will be supporting Rogers.
“I would guarantee there will be fundraisers for him hosted by high-profile Jewish Dems,” he told JI.
The fundraiser, who backed Stevens, said that hours after the race had been called on Wednesday he was “already contacted by Rogers surrogates” seeking to make inroads with Jewish Democrats whose support could prove consequential in what is expected to be a close race.
The surrogates’ pitch, as he put it: “Essentially that as Jews, we need to put our communal well-being ahead of the party.”
It remains to be seen whether the depth of Jewish Democrats’ fears of electing El-Sayed will ultimately translate to a meaningful boost for Rogers’ bid amid a national political environment that is less favorable to Republicans.
Still, Rogers and his supporters have said they are eager to court Jewish Democrats alienated by their party as support for Israel has emerged as a litmus test on the far left — particularly in Michigan, where Jewish Democratic leaders have recently voiced fears of antisemitic harassment from anti-Israel activists in the state.
Alyssa Brouillet, a spokesperson for Rogers, told JI on Sunday that his campaign was “beginning to see more and more Jewish Democrats coming to us who feel abandoned by their party.”
“Mike Rogers stands with the Jewish community in Michigan and across the country,” she said, “and he will continue fighting to make life better for working families all across the state.”
In a video ad posted to social media on Wednesday, Rogers highlighted his opponent’s close ties to Piker, featuring past comments in which the streamer said “America deserved 9/11,” among other controversial remarks that have faced scrutiny. “You are who your friends are, and Abdul El-Sayed’s are radical leftists who hate America,” Rogers wrote.
The Republican Jewish Coalition called El-Sayed “a direct threat to Michigan’s Jewish community” in a statement on Wednesday that urged Jewish voters in the state to get behind Rogers in the general election.
“To our friends in Michigan’s Jewish community, including the tens of thousands who have voted Democrat their entire adult lives and now find themselves politically homeless: this is the moment for real change and action,” said Matt Brooks, the RJC’s CEO. “There are more than 100,000 Jewish voters in the Wolverine State. We are not a rounding error, we are the decisive margin. Mike Rogers has earned your vote.”
Even as El-Sayed quickly won backing on Wednesday from national Democratic leaders hoping to unite the party for a must-win election, the Jewish Democratic Council of America stopped short of an endorsement, underscoring the extent to which the divisive primary has left some Jewish leaders rudderless after Stevens’ defeat.
“While we are disappointed in the final result of the Michigan Senate race, the razor-thin margin isn’t the resounding win for the far-left that was predicted,” said Halie Soifer, the JDCA’s CEO. “We are proud of the race run by Rep. Haley Stevens, and we thank her for her consistent and principled leadership standing with Jewish Americans. We congratulate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed on his victory after a difficult and divisive primary.”
Several nonpartisan Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee, released statements on Wednesday condemning El-Sayed.
Deryn Sousa, a spokesperson for AIPAC, whose super PAC invested over $30 million on an aggressive effort to boost Stevens, said in a statement that the group’s “members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November,” indicating it intends to back Rogers in the general election.
AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project, did not return a request for comment, but sources told JI the group was all but certain to support Rogers, who was recognized as a pro-Israel hawk while serving in the House from 2001 to 2015.
For his part, El-Sayed, who made his opposition to AIPAC a central feature of his campaign messaging, sought to ease tensions with skeptical Jewish voters on Wednesday, addressing what he called “an issue that has been focused on in this race.”
“To all of my sisters and brothers of the Jewish faith,” he said in his televised remarks, “I want you to know that my commitment to your safety, my commitment to Jewish safety, is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters.”
But many Jewish leaders in the state suggested that they would be unmoved by such appeals — especially as El-Sayed has continued to use incendiary rhetoric while discussing Israel. In an interview on MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday morning, for instance, he doubled down on his criticism of Israel, calling the Jewish state “bloodthirsty” while saying his critiques go beyond the government led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
His comments faced criticism from Democratic Majority for Israel, which said “El-Sayed should be working to build a bigger tent and earn the trust of Jewish Michiganders” but was instead invoking “an age-old antisemitic trope that is especially dangerous amid rising violence against Jews.”
Asher Lopatin, a rabbi who serves as director of community relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and endorsed Stevens, told JI he has “heard from several people who say that they will campaign for Rogers and support him and tell others to vote for him.”
“I have not spent a lot of time looking into his positions,” Lopatin added, “but I can say clearly that I will not be voting for Abdul El-Sayed and I wish more Democrats would come out and say they will not be voting for him.”
Some Jewish Democrats in the state have confirmed privately that while they cannot bring themselves to vote for Rogers, they will leave their ballots blank or write in another candidate due to their reservations about El-Sayed.
Despite widespread objections to El-Sayed within Michigan’s mainstream Jewish community, others suggested that their loyalty to the Democratic Party outweighed those concerns. “I know Jewish Dems who will vote for Rogers,” Richard Lenter, a Jewish community activist in Detroit, told JI. “I am leaning toward voting for El-Sayed while holding my nose.”
Michigan state Rep. Noah Arbit, a Jewish Democrat who has been outspoken against antisemitism in his party, declined to confirm whether he would vote for El-Sayed, even as he expressed strong concerns about past comments in which the candidate has dismissed Zionists as “illiberal” and refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.
“Abdul’s rhetoric has been alarming and dangerous for my community,” Arbit, whose district in suburban Detroit includes a sizable Jewish constituency, said in a message posted to Facebook Wednesday morning. “There is a profound need for him to come to the table and attempt to repair the harm he has caused, to see what semblance of trust and confidence may be built.”
The poll, commissioned by the state’s largest teachers’ union, shows Haley Stevens and Mike Rogers nearly tied, with El-Sayed trailing Rogers by 7 points
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.
One week before Michigan’s closely watched Democratic Senate primary, a new poll shows Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) leading former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers by two points if she proceeds to the general election — with her opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, trailing Rogers by seven points.
Among voters who said they definitely plan to vote in the general election, the more moderate Stevens currently leads Rogers 47% to 45%, making the race a toss-up. In an El-Sayed-Rogers matchup, Rogers leads El-Sayed, a far-left former public health official, 48% to 41%.
The poll’s findings provide evidence for one of Stevens’ central campaign messages, which is that she stands the best chance of defeating Rogers in a key swing state and ensuring that Democrats hold onto the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
Among independent voters, Stevens and Rogers are nearly tied, with Rogers at 40% and Stevens at 39%. Independent voters overwhelmingly prefer Rogers to El-Sayed, with 47% saying they would support Rogers and 19% pledging to back El-Sayed.
The poll was commissioned by the Michigan Education Association — the state’s largest teachers’ union, which has not made an endorsement in the race — and an organization called Business Leaders for Michigan. It was conducted between July 22 and 24. The survey did not ask respondents their preferences in the Aug. 4 primary.
The state lawmaker did not offer an endorsement of either of her former Democratic primary rivals, Rep. Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed
Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images
State Sen. Mallory McMorrow, a Democrat from Michigan speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, United States on August 19, 2024.
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Sunday, without offering her support to either of her opponents in the hotly contested race.
“Here’s what we do next. Every day through November 3rd. We win this Senate seat and send Mike Rogers back to Florida for good,” McMorrow wrote in her announcement on X, referring to the expected GOP nominee.
“Whoever wins this primary on August 4th will have my full support,” she continued, declining to endorse either Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) or Abdul El-Sayed.
Fundraising figures released at the end of the first quarter of the year showed Stevens trailing El-Sayed in fundraising but having the most cash on hand, at $3.4 million to El-Sayed’s $2.5 million. El-Sayed has held a slight lead in the latest polls.
Following McMorrow’s announcement, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Jewish Democrat, said the “choice is clear” and “wholeheartedly” issued her endorsement of Stevens.
Stevens also has the backing of other Democratic leaders including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and former Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI).
El-Sayed, meanwhile, is backed by leading progressives including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY). Last week, the AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project super PAC, which has boosted Stevens with more than $10 million, issued its first negative ad against El-Sayed.
The group is endorsing candidates Ashely Hinson in Iowa, Mike Rogers in Michigan, Kurt Alme in Montana and Michael Whatley in North Carolina
Andrew Roth/Sipa USA via AP Images
Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers attends President Donald Trump's rally in Warren, Mich., on April 29, 2025.
The Republican Jewish Coalition announced Tuesday that it is endorsing four Republican Senate candidates for open seats: Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), former U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme in Montana and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley in North Carolina.
The group also announced endorsements of sitting Sens. Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Jon Husted (R-OH), all of whom are up for reelection in November.
“All eight of these incumbent Senators and candidates exemplify what it means to be a true conservative fighter for the American people,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks and National Chairman Norm Coleman said in a statement. “Each has stood firmly against the rising tide of antisemitism, in support of the US-Israel alliance, and for our shared values. The Republican Jewish Coalition knows that these leaders will deliver on the issues of primary concern to the American Jewish community, and we are proud to endorse them.”
The two said that the “frontlines” of the fight to keep the Senate in Republican hands “are in these eight key states” — highlighting the expanding battleground in this November’s Senate contests.
The RJC, in a statement, particularly highlighted Whatley’s work to support Israel and the Jewish community following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, describing him as “outspoken in his support for our greatest ally [who] forcefully condemned Hamas terrorism, and reaffirmed the Republican Party’s unwavering backing of Israel’s right to defend itself.”
RJC was a key backer of Rogers in the 2024 Senate race, and is expected to be strongly involved again in the Michigan race.
The Michigan Senate candidate said Republicans need to do more to counter the anti-Israel trend and rising antisemitism on the right
Sarah Rice/Getty Images
Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers speaks at his election watch party
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.”
Plus, Ireland draws Risch’s ire
Avi Ohayon/PMO
Good Monday morning.
In today’s Daily Kickoff, we preview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with President Donald Trump that is slated for this evening, and talk to former Rep. Mike Rogers, who is mounting a Senate bid in Michigan, about the Trump administration’s approach to Iran. We also interview the chancellors of Washington University and Vanderbilt about their approaches to antisemitism and anti-Israel activity on campus, and look at the regional effects of the deepening relationship between Israel and Azerbaijan. Also in today’s Daily Kickoff: Sen. Jim Risch, Yoram Hazony and Dennis Ross.
What We’re Watching
- If it’s the week after July 4, all eyes are turning to Sun Valley, Idaho, for the annual Allen & Co. leadership retreat, which is set to kick off tomorrow. Attendees this year include Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Andy Jassy, Sam Altman, Barry Diller, Alex Karp, Evan Spiegel, Ynon Kreiz, Charles Rivkin, David Zaslav, Brian Grazer, Bob Iger, David Ignatius, Bari Weiss, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Mike Bloomberg, Govs. Wes Moore and Glenn Youngkin, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Casey Wasserman.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with President Donald Trump this evening at the White House. Earlier in the day, Netanyahu will meet at the Blair House, where he is staying, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff to prepare for his sit-down with the president.
- Elsewhere in Washington, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s subcommittees will hold markups on the National Defense Authorization Act.
- Leaders from the BRICS alliance wrap up their two-day summit in Rio de Janeiro today. Absent from the gathering of officials from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa was Chinese President Xi Jinping, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has largely curbed his travel abroad since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, addressed the gathering by video.
What You Should Know
A QUICK WORD WITH JI’S MELISSA WEISS AND LAHAV HARKOV
When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits down with President Donald Trump today, one question will be on observers’ minds: What will each walk away with?
Netanyahu appeared to come away empty-handed from his April meeting in Washington, after the U.S. imposed tariffs on Israel, among other countries. Weeks later, Trump skipped Israel on his first trip abroad, while visiting three other countries in the region.
Few knew at the time about Netanyahu’s plans to take on Iran. Following last month’s joint U.S.-Israel military effort to degrade Iran’s nuclear program and military infrastructure, relations between the two leaders have improved to such a degree that last week Trump called twice for an end to the legal proceedings against Netanyahu. A post-strikes-on-Iran victory lap is top of the public agenda for Netanyahu’s White House visit today, while Trump’s other goals, as they relate to Israel, remain works in progress.
The White House wants to wind down the war in Gaza, as Trump has said many times in recent months. After the American bunker busters dealt Iran the final punch that Israel pushed for, the president has newly gained leverage to push Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza — a move the Netanyahu government has thus far resisted until it has achieved its goal of “total victory” against Hamas. Trump told reporters on Sunday night that “there’s a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the week pertaining to quite a few of the hostages.”
ROGER THAT
Michigan Senate hopeful Mike Rogers underscores his support for Trump’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program
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, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Iran angle: Rogers emphasized, in an interview with JI 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.
Bonus: Rogers’ 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’s Marc Rod.
CAMPUS BEAT
Vanderbilt, WashU leaders pitch Jewish students on a winning post-Oct. 7 strategy
Many universities are still navigating the post-Oct. 7 maelstrom, trying to handle competing concerns from students, parents, alumni and faculty — all while facing civil rights investigations by the federal government. In March, Education Secretary Linda McMahon wrote a letter to 60 schools under investigation for antisemitic discrimination, including Harvard, Yale, Northwestern, Stanford and Princeton. Vanderbilt University and Washington University in St. Louis were not on the list. That presents an opening for them to reach Jewish students with concerns about what they’re seeing elsewhere, particularly as the Jewish student populations at many top universities have shrunk. Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier and WashU Chancellor Andrew D. Martin talked to Jewish Insider’s Gabby Deutch about why they’re pushing back against “creeping politicization” on college campuses.
Political play: The two university leaders have joined together in something of an informal pact — a joint effort to promote principled leadership in higher education, presenting their two schools as a refreshing counterweight to the dysfunction plaguing higher-ranked competitors like Harvard and Columbia. Martin and Diermeier see themselves and their institutions as the stewards of a forward-looking case for higher education at a time when the institution is under attack, both from Washington and from Americans, whose trust in higher education has plummeted. It’s not just about values: It’s a savvy political move. After all, both Vanderbilt and WashU would be in trouble if federal research dollars stopped flowing to the schools, or if President Donald Trump made the call that they could not admit international students, as is the case with Harvard.
BAKU BUSINESS
With gas deal, Israel-Azerbaijan ties grow, sparking Iran’s ire
Following the Israel-Iran ceasefire and amid questions about the extent of the damage Israel and the U.S. inflicted on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, an important piece of news flew under the radar: Azerbaijan’s national energy company, SOCAR, finalized its purchase of a 10% stake in Israel’s Tamar gas field. The deal and its timing amid hesitation from other countries that have considered investing in Israel, reflect a growing strategic partnership between Jerusalem and Baku — one that has garnered increasing pressure from Iran toward Azerbaijan, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports.
Details: The day after the ceasefire between Israel and Iran was announced toward the end of last month, Union Energy, owned by Israeli businessman Aharon Frenkel, received the final approval from Israel’s Petroleum Council and Competition Authority to sell half its shares of the gas field in the Mediterranean, which provides 60-70% of Israel’s electricity each year, to Azerbaijan’s SOCAR. Chevron owns 25% of the Tamar field and the UAE’s Mubadala sovereign wealth fund owns an 11% stake. Azerbaijan supplies as much as two-thirds of Israel’s oil, and Israel was the largest supplier of arms to Azerbaijan from 2016-2020. Israel continued to sell drones and missiles to Baku during its war with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in 2020, as well as satellites and a missile-interception system in 2023, during another war between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
DUBLIN WARNING
Risch threatens economic consequences if Ireland continues ‘antisemitic path’
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris urged the U.S. to end the war in Gaza at the American Embassy in Dublin’s Fourth of July party, days after the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), warned that the U.S. may reconsider its economic ties with “antisemitic” Ireland. Harris, who is also Ireland’s deputy prime minister and defense minister, began his speech by focusing on the close relationship between the U.S. and Ireland, according to Dublin-based The Journal, before pivoting to the war in Gaza, Jewish Insider’s Lahav Harkov reports. Harris said at the event on Thursday that his country “want[s] the bombs to stop, the killing to stop … because the cry of a child is the same in any language.”
U.S.-Ireland tensions: “It compels us to provide comfort and protection from harm. As human beings in positions of power, we can no longer bear the heartbreaking cries of the children of the Middle East,” Harris added. “And I join, I know, with everyone here in urging everybody involved to support and engage in efforts underway to reach agreement on a new ceasefire and hostage release agreement, to redouble those efforts and to end the violence once and for all.” U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Ed Walsh did not applaud the remarks, The Journal reported. Harris has previously called Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza a “genocide.” Earlier last week, Risch posted on X that “Ireland, while often a valuable U.S. partner, is on a hateful, antisemitic path that will only lead to self-inflicted economic suffering.” The post came after Harris introduced legislation to ban trade with Israelis operating in the West Bank and parts of Jerusalem.
Worthy Reads
Tragedy in Tamra: In The Wall Street Journal, Fania Oz-Salzberger reflects on how the death of her student, an Israeli-Arab woman whose home was struck by an Iranian ballistic missile, underscores the ways in which the Israeli government has fallen short in protecting citizens. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked Iranian nuclear and military sites to defend the country — rightly, in my view. But the current Israeli government has failed in multiple ways to defend its citizens, both Jewish and Arab. … The Khatib family was killed by Iran, and they represent the exact opposite of the ayatollahs’ regime. They are democrats, moderates — crucial partners in any future Israeli society that might emerge from the current ruins and smoke.” [WSJ]
China First: In The Free Press, Yoram Hazony posits that President Donald Trump is guided by a doctrine that prioritizes alliances with regional powers and stunting China’s global ambitions. “According to the Trump Doctrine, America’s role in such a world is focused on countering China and on rebuilding itself at home. Beyond that, America will be interested in alliances with powerful, independent nation-states that can take care of themselves and their regions, coordinate with each other where beneficial, and look to America to supplement their strategic capabilities where necessary.” [FreePress]
Bibi Still Needs a ‘Day-After’ Plan: In The Washington Post, Dennis Ross suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will need to end the war in Gaza and present a viable plan for the enclave’s future in order to cement his own legacy. “Almost a decade and a half later, Netanyahu has now acted on what he considered to be his primary mission as prime minister. He has done so after the Israeli military, on his watch, transformed the regional balance of power by devastating Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran’s most formidable regional proxies, with the Assad regime in Syria collapsing soon thereafter. But these admittedly breathtaking decisions will not automatically vault Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s founder in the history books. To surpass [founding father David] Ben-Gurion, Netanyahu will need to take these great military achievements and turn them into enduring political outcomes.” [WashPost]
Word on the Street
The Wall Street Journal reports on a letter from a group of sheikhs from the West Bank city of Hebron to Israeli Economy Minister Nir Barkat calling for “cooperation” and “coexistence” with Israel as well as the city’s break from the Palestinian Authority in an effort to bolster ties with the Jewish state…
The Financial Times looks at initial plans for a “Trump Rivera” in Gaza that included the creation of “MBS Ring” and “MBZ Central” highways named after the leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as an “Elon Musk Smart Manufacturing Zone” for electronic vehicle production along the Israel-Gaza border…
Nvidia is planning to expand its footprint in Israel as it looks to build a high-tech campus in the country with building rights up to 180,000 square meters…
Columbia University is continuing negotiations with the Trump administration to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding and grants; recent conversations have not included discussion of a “consent decree” that had previously been considered, under which a federal judge would have oversight of the school’s compliance with the terms of a potential agreement…
The New York Times reports that New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani identified as “Asian” and “Black or African American” on his application to Columbia University; the Queens assemblyman, who was born in Uganda to parents of Indian descent, told the Times last week he “did not consider himself either Black or African American”…
Victoria, Australia, Premier Jacinta Allan announced the creation of a new anti-hate task force following the weekend firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue and the vandalism of an eatery in the city owned by Shahar Segal, a spokesperson for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation; Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vowed to apply the “full force” of the law against “those responsible for these shocking acts”…
Former U.K. Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn said he is in “ongoing” discussions about the creation of a new political party, a day after MP Zarah Sultana announced that she was leaving Labour to form a new party with Corbyn…
The New York Times looks at an ongoing effort to locate and return a Stradivarius violin to the descendants of the Jewish family who had owned the violin until it was looted near the end of World War II…
The Bank of Israel will hold its interest rates at 4.5% for the 12th consecutive time, amid the shekel’s rally following last month’s ceasefire between Israel and Iran…
The Washington Post looks at efforts by members of the Syrian Jewish diaspora to restore sites and rebuild connections inside Syria, whose Jewish population was just six people by the end of the Assad regime…
The Guardian reports on Israeli court documents that detail Iranian efforts to recruit spies inside Israel…
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors left Iran, days after Tehran suspended cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog…
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made his first public appearance since last month’s war between Israel and Iran…
Hezbollah head Naim Kassem, speaking outside Beirut during an event marking the Shiite Muslim holiday of Ashura, doubled down on the terror group’s refusal to cease fighting until Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon…
Israel carried out strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen over the weekend, the first attacks on the Iran-backed terror group since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran last month…
The crew of a Liberian-flagged commercial vessel transiting through the Red Sea abandoned ship following an attack believed to have come from the Houthis in Yemen…
Broadway executive Paul Libin, who for many years ran Circle in the Square Theater, died at 94…
Pic of the Day
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier laid a wreath earlier today at the Paneriai Holocaust Memorial in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Birthdays
Cardiologist and former president of CRIF, the umbrella organization of French Jews, Richard Prasquier turns 80…
Retired president of The Seeing Eye, the world’s premier guide dog school for the blind, Kenneth Rosenthal turns 87… Early collaborator on object-oriented computer programming in the 1970s, Adele Goldberg turns 80… Michigan-based real estate developer, he served as U.S. ambassador to Slovakia during the Bush 43 administration, Ronald N. Weiser turns 80… Board member of the Israel Policy Forum, he spent 27 years as a bankruptcy attorney at Cooley LLP, Lawrence C. Gottlieb turns 78… Israeli businessman with vast holdings in energy (Delek Group) and real estate (El-Ad Group), Yitzhak Tshuva turns 77… Former president of Hebrew University and a past member of the Knesset, Menachem Ben-Sasson turns 74… Co-founder and CEO of the biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Leonard Steven Schleifer turns 73… Pioneer of Israeli punk rock, nicknamed “HaMeshuga,” Rami Fortis turns 71… USAID official for 28 years until 2008, he now consults internationally on Rule of Law issues, Richard Gold… President of The Lapin Group, Avrum Lapin… Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion located in Alon Shvut, Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein turns 64… Academy Award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer, Akiva Goldsman turns 63… President of the United Synagogue of the U.K., Michael Howard Goldstein turns 62… President and CEO of HIAS since 2013, he first joined HIAS in 1989 as a caseworker in Rome, Mark Hetfield turns 58… Comic book creator and a cappella singer, he published the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, Jordan B. Gorfinkel turns 58… Chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit, David Jeremiah Barron turns 58… Television and film actress, Robin Weigert turns 56… Azerbaijani-born businessman, he is a VP of the Russian Jewish Congress and the president of the International Charity Foundation of Mountain Jews, German Zakharyayev turns 54… Communications director for the Democratic Majority for Israel since 2019, Rachel Rosen… Consultant and project manager for nonprofits, Amy Handman… Head coach of the Florida Gators men’s basketball team that won the NCAA national championship last season, Todd Raymond Golden turns 40… WNBA player in her 13th season, she has also played on Israeli teams for six seasons, Alysha Angelica Clark turns 38… Ethiopian-born Israeli actress, Netsanet Mekonnen turns 37… Prime Video analytics expert on “Thursday Night Football,” Sam Schwartzstein turns 36… Olympic sports sailor, she competed for Israel in both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics, Gil Cohen turns 33… Originally a figure skater and later a pairs skater, now a skating coach, Megan Wessenberg turns 27… Shalom Klein… U.S. editor at Jewish Insider, Danielle Cohen…
Rogers, a former House Intel Cmte chair: ‘I was for all of this when it wasn’t very cool to be for all of this’
AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File
Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers speaks during an election night watch party, Nov. 5, 2024, at Suburban Showplace Collection in Novi, Mich.
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.”
Jackson Karki was named as a county chair for the Upper Peninsula counties of Baraga, Delta, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw and Marquette
Andrew Roth/Sipa USA via AP Images
Republican Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers attends President Donald Trump's rally in Warren, Mich., on April 29, 2025.
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.
Jordan Acker's law office in Southfield vandalized: 'I believe this was a message to be sent to the Jewish community'
Courtesy Jordan Acker
Vandals scrawled antisemitic and anti-Israel messages early Monday morning at the law office of University of Michigan regent Jordan Acker in Southfield, a heavily Jewish suburb of Detroit.
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.
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