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The two Michigan Democrats vying for their party's nomination in a US Senate race clashed in a debate this week over Middle East policy, focusing on America's relations with Israel.
Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official who has built his candidacy on pointed criticism of corporate power and US Israel policy, and Haley Stevens, a moderate congresswoman supported by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other top Democrats, met in Grand Rapids weeks before a primary vote next month.
The Michigan race has taken on high importance for Democrats as they seek to capture control of the Senate. A series of victories in Congressional primaries for far-left candidates and controversy over Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner have shaken party leaders' confidence that Democrats can retake both chambers of Congress and use that power to check President Donald Trump.
This week's debate in Michigan got contentious early when the candidates squared off over the war with Iran and how much Israel and supporting lobby groups in the US are influencing American policy in the region. El-Sayed said Israel is committing genocide and accused Stevens of being influenced by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
"AIPAC has spent tens of millions of dollars in attack ads against me or ads lying about the Congresswoman's record," El-Sayed said. "They are spending against me because they've called me the most dangerous candidate for the US-Israel relationship."
Stevens has received direct contributions from AIPAC, while the group's super PAC arm has spent millions on her behalf. At the debate, she said no one owns her vote and blamed Trump and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for starting the war in Iran.
"I can say that Israel has a right to peacefully exist," Stevens said. "It is very clear that Mr. Netanyahu has not made us safer, has not brought us closer to peace. And he's endangered Jews here in America and around the world."
El-Sayed and Stevens are running for the seat now held by Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who's retiring. Democratic leaders have said retaining the seat is critical as the party seeks to flip GOP-held seats in other states, including Texas.
The Michigan race is being closely watched as test of wills between progressives and moderates after a series of victories for left-leaning candidates in New York and Colorado in recent weeks. Republicans are expected to nominate former Representative Mike Rogers to take on whomever emerges from the Democratic contest. Voters will go to the polls on Aug. 4.
The two rival Democrats also argued over the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, with El-Sayed saying it should be abolished and Stevens vowing to reform it and divert some of its funding to local law enforcement.
Both candidates supported a reworking of North American free trade agreements, policies to regulate artificial intelligence data centers and efforts to bolster the US automobile industry, an economic bastion in the state for a century. Stevens pointed out her support for legislation to ban Chinese car imports.
"We can build affordable cars here in Michigan without having the Chinese come in and eat our lunch," she said.
El-Sayed said he would be able to work with Republicans on forging a new trade deal after Trump let a renewal deadline expire last week on the US-Mexico-Canada agreement.
"There is bipartisan support already to blow up the USMCA, which has been a cancer on our manufacturing industry in Michigan and the industrial Midwest in general," he said.
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