Michigan Senate hopeful El-Sayed dodges Israel right to exist question
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Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed was questioned repeatedly in a tense interview on CNN on Thursday about whether Israel has a right to exist; in addition to several social media posts he deleted about defunding the police.
“AIPAC is a big part of this conversation because Israel has become such a central issue, especially within the Democratic Party but also on a national level. Do you believe Israel has a right to exist?” CNN’s Kasie Hunt asked.
El-Sayed responded: “So, Kasie, AIPAC has become a big issue in this election because AIPAC has already spent $30 million in this election; they are by far the biggest spender in the race. Now, the question about the right to exist is interesting because no one has ever asked me whether I believe Palestine has the right to exist. Every president who has been in office has said they believe in a two-state solution. Israel exists. The question is whether we want a policy where our money is sent to Israel instead of investing in our own children to commit genocide.” and will finance apartheid.”
Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, speaks before U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
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Hunt noted that he said Israel existed, but asked himself once again whether the country had the right to exist.
“I didn’t say anything like that. I just said that the question of Israel’s existence is not an issue. I’m not going to play this canned game about whether Israel has a right to exist. The question ultimately comes down to whether we want a policy that enshrines equal rights.”
The CNN anchor asked for the third time: “You won’t act nice, but you won’t say you think Israel has the right to exist?”
Abdul El-Sayed, a U.S. Senate candidate from Michigan, has been endorsed by Bernie Sanders and has embraced comparisons between himself and Zohran Mamdani. (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
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El-Sayed dodged again and instead responded with a question he believed they should ask: “Does everyone have equal rights to peace, dignity and self-determination? Does this include Jews, Israelis and Palestinians?”
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“And in my view, the people who should answer what ultimate peace would look like should be Jews, Israelis, and Palestinians. I want my tax dollars to be spent providing schools here in Michigan, building health care in Michigan, investing in Michigan, rather than being sent abroad to kill Palestinians through genocide and apartheid. The question of whether Israel has a right to exist is actually quite secondary to whether it has a right to our tax dollars.”
He added: “So if you want to ask me questions about the Palestinians’ right to exist, if you want to ask me what I want to do for children in Michigan, I’m happy to answer those questions. But AIPAC and Israel have become questions that a lot of people have to answer, because our tax dollars continue to be spent there instead of being spent here.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for additional comment.
Abdul El-Sayed speaks before Senator Bernie Sanders and performs at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)
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Hunt then brought up since-deleted social media posts expressing support for funding the police movement, among other things.
“Most major U.S. cities spend TOO MUCH on police departments to control poverty, and TOO LESS on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, and housing to eliminate poverty. The #Defund movement is about fixing this,” El-Sayed wrote in a post. June 2020 post In X, just a few weeks after the death of George Floyd.
Hunt asked if he stood by what he said earlier or if he thought police departments should be defunded.
El-Sayed cited his work as administrator of the Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services in Wayne County, Michigan.
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He pressed again and asked.
“You judge me on my work, I funded the system because it needed to be funded. Too often what we talk about is funding or defunding. The question we don’t ask is, what kind of system do we really want? I want us to invest in the types of interventions that actually protect people,” he said, touching on hiring and retirement for law enforcement, civil violence response, behavioral health response and more.
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El-Sayed then took a look at CNN and added: “And I think this discussion about 2020 and the ways the tweets will play out is really nice on CNN. If you want to get clicks, they’re not that effective, and no one is asking me about those on the streets or in communities in Michigan. So if you want to talk about housing, health care, or corporate dominance in our politics, I think those are actually much more legitimate questions that people are asking me about what they want from their next senator. It’s going to be done in the state of Michigan instead of clickbait in DC.”
