Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, told a private gathering of Jewish Democrats on Aug. 30 that they have a duty to place the needs of “the rest of humanity” above their own community’s “safety and security.”
Nessel, who is Jewish, made the remarks in Birmingham at an event hosted by the Michigan Democratic Party’s Jewish Caucus. Press were not allowed inside, but a video recording reviewed by The Detroit News captured her comments.
Invoking the biblical story of Queen Esther, Nessel said Jewish Democrats have a “moral imperative to place the needs of the world above even our own self-interest,” telling the room to “sacrifice the comfort, safety and security and even the very future of our own people in exchange for the opportunity to save the rest of humanity.”
She went further, questioning whether defending Israel’s existence even matters if the planet itself becomes uninhabitable due to climate change: “What good is defending the historic homeland of our ancestors and demanding that candidates acknowledge its right to exist if the planet upon which it rests is no longer inhabitable?”
Nessel also called support for former President Donald Trump an “abdication of our responsibilities as Jews,” saying Jewish tradition demands “compassionate action toward others” rather than what she termed “blind obedience to the world’s biggest and most dangerous fool.”
A Party Divided
The private confab underscores a widening rift inside the Democratic Party in battleground Michigan, where Jewish voters increasingly say they feel caught between their party and their faith as anti-Israel rhetoric grows louder among progressive candidates.
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, a vocal critic of Israel and U.S. military aid to the country, attended the same event and used it to apologize publicly to the Jewish Caucus for past controversial remarks. Nessel has said she won’t vote for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers, but she has still not endorsed El-Sayed, citing concerns about his record on Israel.
Nessel did criticize hardline anti-Zionist rhetoric in the room, noting that arguments equating Zionism with racism often come
