Jewish leaders in Michigan prepare to work with Abdul El-Sayed despite lingering concerns

Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed's victory in Michigan has drawn mixed reactions from Jewish leaders and Jewish Democrats, with some expressing optimism and a willingness to work with him, while others say their concerns remain.

"We congratulate all the winners, and we will work with all the winners," Jewish Federation of Detroit CEO Steven Ingber told Fox News Digital. "The Jewish voice and Jewish vote is not monolithic, meaning, we have people who voted on every side of the aisle on all the races up and down the ballot. And the beauty of being a 501(c)(3) is we don't get to take an opinion and we just get to work with whoever then is elected."

The Jewish Federation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit, meaning it cannot endorse political candidates or participate in political campaigns on behalf of or in opposition to candidates. Instead, it works with elected officials from across the political spectrum to support Jewish communities.

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For Ingber, the key is understanding that people have varying reactions to elections, something he said has happened before and will likely happen again.

"I think it's all about unity," he told Fox News Digital. "There'll be an election again in two years. There was an election two years ago. People were upset then, people were happy then. And I think that's the beauty of our system right now is — America will go on."

Throughout his campaign, El-Sayed faced criticism from Jewish leaders and voters who were concerned about his stance on Israel and ties to controversial figures. One remark in particular that struck many Jews the wrong way was El-Sayed's response to the March 2026 attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Mich.

According to the FBI, Ayman Mohamad Ghazali drove a truck containing commercial-grade fireworks and containers of flammable liquid into Temple Israel on March 12. Ghazali died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound during an exchange of gunfire with synagogue security personnel, investigators said. Following the attack, El-Sayed said, "Hurt people, hurt people," drawing criticism. He later apologized and told Fox News Digital that his comments "might have been misconstrued to be justifying something I did not intend to justify."

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Democratic strategist Julian Epstein told Fox News Digital that Democrats have been inconsistent when opposing bigotry, particularly when Jews are the targets.

"If you believe in civil rights, right? If you believe [in] pluralism, if you believe in dignity for all, if you're against bigotry, then you don't do it for one group, but not for another, or accept it for another or capitulate on it for others. Because then you really don't believe in the civil rights. You just believe in group preferences at that point," Epstein said.

Epstein predicted that El-Sayed's victory could mean a broader shift among Jewish voters, who have long been a reliable Democratic base.

"I think there's no question that Jewish voters are going to start leaving the Democratic Party," Epstein told Fox News Digital. "They should. I mean, why would you stick with a party that openly tolerates hate directed at you?"

The American Jewish Committee's Detroit chapter (AJC Detroit) acknowledged the historic significance of El-Sayed's election as the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate but expressed concern about his public statements.

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"We recognize the historic significance of Dr. El-Sayed becoming the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate, a milestone that reflects the promise of American democracy. As a Jewish organization, we understand the profound importance of seeing one’s community represented in government," AJC Detroit's statement read. "Unfortunately, this historic moment has been tarnished by the Senator-elect’s continued anti-Israel rhetoric that alienates countless Jewish Michiganders and other supporters of the State of Israel, and endangers American Jews."

"As a U.S. Senator, El-Sayed will have the responsibility to represent all Michiganders. The Senator-elect proclaimed that America is 'big enough for all of us' but his obsessive hostility toward Israel yet again in his victory speech told many Jewish Michiganders and countless others who support Israel that they are not included," AJC Detroit added.

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Despite the concerns expressed by some Jewish leaders, Ingber urged community leaders to continue calling out antisemitism regardless of which party is responsible.

"We have antisemitism coming at us from both sides, from the far-left, from the far-right. Neither is better, neither is worse," he told Fox News Digital. "Antisemitism isn't a Jewish problem, it's an American problem."

He said Jewish Americans should not retreat from public Jewish life because of rising antisemitism or political divisions.

"Antisemitism and people who don’t want us to succeed in life are not going to stop us from being who we are," Ingber said.

The El-Sayed campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

Fox News Digital's Paul Steinhauser and Peter D'Abrosca contributed to this report.