Michigan Attorney General urges Jewish Democrats to prioritize global concerns ahead of election
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Attorney General Dana Nessel told a private gathering of Jewish Democrats that their faith calls for placing worldwide needs above personal or partisan interests as the November election approaches.
Attorney General Dana Nessel addressed a private meeting of the Michigan Democratic Party's Jewish Caucus in Birmingham on Aug. 30, urging Jewish Democrats to consider the broader implications of the upcoming November election. Nessel, who is herself Jewish, said the group faces a “moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest.”
She referenced the biblical story of Queen Esther, suggesting that today’s Jewish voters might need to “sacrifice the comfort, safety and security … in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity.”
“Come November, what do your Jewish values tell you to do?”
Nessel noted tension within the party as some Democratic candidates have criticized Israel, and she warned that “it is so easy to hate people right now, especially other Democrats who seem to have thrown us under the bus.”
The event, which barred media, also included Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who apologized for a March statement made after an anti-Semitic attack on a Michigan synagogue. El-Sayed asked for forgiveness, saying he “made a mistake.”
Local activist Michelle Zukowski-Serlin said El-Sayed had reached out to Jewish Democrats but said she would not support him because of his ties to far-left commentator Hasan Piker and his perceived lack of support for Israel as a Jewish state.
Nessel, who cannot seek re-election due to term limits, also criticized Republicans for focusing on issues such as transgender athletes in junior varsity sports and for what she described as “support of selfishness and blind obedience to the world’s biggest and most dangerous fool.” She linked Republican positions to broader concerns about climate change, wealth inequality and artificial intelligence.
The attorney general did not attend the state Democratic Party convention that weekend, citing safety concerns.