Democratic Senate Candidate Questions Israel's Alliance With US

By N12

Translated & summarized from Mako by baba

CenterNeutral tone

Hebrew · 2 newsrooms covering

Abdul el-Sayed, a Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan, declared in an ABC News interview that Israel is not an ally of the United States, comparing their relationship to a toxic friendship. He argued that Israel uses US money to involve the country in unnecessary wars. El-Sayed previously faced criticism for remarks about a synagogue attack, for which he later apologized.

The story in 5 lines · by baba

Democratic Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed stated Israel is not an ally of the US.
El-Sayed compared the US-Israel relationship to a toxic friendship.
He claimed Israel uses US money to push the US into wars.
El-Sayed previously apologized for controversial remarks about a synagogue attack.
The candidate is running for the Senate in Michigan.

Democratic Senate Candidate Questions Israel's Alliance With US — Editorial illustration generated by baba News, not a photograph of the event.

Abdul el-Sayed, a Democratic candidate for the Senate in Michigan, stated in an interview with ABC News that Israel is not an ally of the United States. When asked by the interviewer if he did not consider Israel an ally, el-Sayed compared the relationship between the two countries to a toxic friendship.

"An ally that takes your money to push you into wars you shouldn't be fighting is not an ally," el-Sayed said. He further elaborated by asking the interviewer if she had children. After she confirmed, he presented an analogy: "If your child has a friend who keeps exploiting him and taking his money, and then talks about him behind his back and gets him into fights with other friends, what would you tell your child to do with this friend?" He concluded, "You would probably tell him: 'Maybe he's not really your friend.' I think it's time we understood that Israel is actually not our friend."

This is not the first time el-Sayed has caused controversy. In March, he sparked outrage in the Jewish community following remarks about an attack on the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield, near Detroit. In a statement released shortly after the incident, el-Sayed said, "There is never justification for attacking innocent people," but added that he "understands that violence is a cycle" and that "hurt people hurt people." Several months later, he apologized to Jewish members of the Democratic Party in the state for his comments.

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