Rabbis send ‘nonnegotiable’ positions to el Sayed or threaten to withhold support

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Cite

Zimmermann, D. (2026, September 8). Rabbis send ‘nonnegotiable’ positions to el Sayed or threaten to withhold support. Washington Examiner. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/congressional/4716324/rabbis-send-nonnegotiable-positions-el-sayed-threaten-withhold-support/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Washington Examiner · collected 2026-09-08 · by David Zimmermann

Quick Summary

Michigan rabbis and Jewish leaders have circulated a petition with five demands for any Democratic candidate seeking their support. The "nonnegotiable" terms include supporting "Jewish sovereignty in Israel," a two-state solution, and welcoming full participation of Jews in American politics. Michigan Democratic nominee Abdul el Sayed is the likely target of this petition due to his past criticism of Israel's right to exist. A prominent Jewish leader, Rabbi Asher Lopatin, has pledged to support Republican candidate Mike Rogers, who is also courting Jewish voters ahead of the November 3 general election.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-08, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

A group of Michigan rabbis and Jewish leaders has sent a "nonnegotiable" petition to Abdul el Sayed, the Democratic nominee for the state's open Senate seat, with five demands for his support. The petition includes requirements that el Sayed agree to support "Jewish sovereignty in Israel," back a "two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians", and welcome "full participation in American political life" for Jews. This comes after el Sayed criticized Israel throughout his Senate campaign, stating he doesn't believe in "ethno-states**" and that he opposes the Jewish state's right to exist. The rabbis are threatening to withhold support from el Sayed if these demands are not met, which could impact his chances with Michigan's Jewish voters who identify as Democratic.

Written for “Michigan Governor Campaign” on 2026-10-23, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Michigan Governor Campaign
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 5% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Al Jazeera
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 2 📰 publisher trust 60
“Article A is about a confrontation between Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, while Article B mentions a separate issue with Michigan rabbis sending demands to Abdul el Sayed”
New York Post
⚖️ Leans strongly right further right than this 🔴 5% hedged 2 of 37 📰 publisher trust 66
“Article A refers to the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa in 2001, while Article B does not mention this event at all and instead discusses a petition from Michigan rabbis”
The Bulwark
⚖️ Leans left further left than this 🔴 9% hedged 5 of 58
“Article A discusses JD Vance's criticism of Abdul El-Sayed, while Article B reports on a petition by Michigan rabbis with 'nonnegotiable' demands for Democratic candidates, without mentioning Vance or his critique”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans right 🔴 4% hedged 2 of 50 📰 publisher trust 67
“Article A discusses Abdul El-Sayed's efforts to moderate his image, while Article B is about a group of rabbis circulating a petition with demands for Michigan Democratic candidates, which appears to be aimed at El-Sayed but doesn't mention him trying to moderate his image”
Zeteo
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 10
“Article A reports on a group of rabbis circulating a petition with 'nonnegotiable' demands, while Article B discusses a different topic, namely whether the Democratic Party has turned against Israel or Jewish Americans”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
5%
1 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
66/100
Washington Examiner's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-08 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Washington Examiner · 3373 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

David Zimmermann
103 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The changes come two weeks before the midterm elections, which will determine whether Democrats retake control of the House from Republicans.
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🔮 “And if he didn’t make these requests, he would be breaking the law,” the president added.
🔮 President Donald Trump is set to headline a rally for the midterm elections on Monday in Kansas.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · WATCH LIVE: Trump rallies for Roger Marshall in Kansas
🔮 The name would add great value and prestige to the State!
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🔮 Trump hopes the conflict will end soon, saying both leaders want the same result.
Also by David Zimmermann
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 103 articles by David Zimmermann →

Topics

Democratic Israel Jewish Michigan Senate

Subjects

El Sayed PERSON · 9× Jewish NORP · 8× Michigan GPE · 7× Democratic NORP · 3× Israel GPE · 3× Rogers PERSON · 3× Jews NORP · 2× Senate ORG · 2× the Democratic Party ORG · 2× the New York Times ORG · 2×

Narrative

The primary purpose of Vance’s appearance at the campaign event was to lend his support to former Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who’s running against el Sayed for the seat held by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-08
🔮 The petition makes it clear that candidates’ refusal to agree to the petition’s terms will result in a lack of support from Michigan’s Jewish voters who identify with the Democratic Party.
2026-09-08 · Washington Examiner
Rabbis send ‘nonnegotiable’ positions to el Sayed or threaten to withhold support · assertive framing

Claims (19 extracted, 1 hedged)

A group of Michigan rabbis and Jewish leaders is circulating a petition with five “nonnegotiable” demands for any Michigan Democratic candidate who wants their support. asserted
who → circulate → support
The letter appeared to be aimed at Abdul el Sayed, the Democratic nominee running for the state’s open Senate seat. asserted
letter → appear → seat
The petition makes it clear that candidates’ refusal to agree to the petition’s terms will result in a lack of support from Michigan’s Jewish voters who identify with the Democratic Party. asserted
who → make → Party
The terms include agreeing to support “Jewish sovereignty in Israel,” backing a two-state solution for Israel and Palestinians, and welcoming “full participation in American political life” for Jews, according to the New York Times. uncertain
terms → include → Times
El Sayed has been very critical of Israel throughout his Senate campaign, opposing the Jewish state’s right to exist. asserted
Sayed → oppose → right
His rationale for that stance is that he doesn’t “believe in ethno-states,” the Democratic candidate told the New York Times in July before he won his primary. asserted
he → believe → primary
The petition rejects “cleverly worded arguments advanced to return the Jewish people to statelessness and powerlessness — a position that a supermajority of Jews everywhere recognize as genocidal,” the document states. asserted
document → reject → Jews
The letter does not directly name el Sayed, but it is targeted toward Michigan candidates. asserted
it → name → candidates
Since defeating the pro-Israel centrist Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) in the Aug. 4 primary election, el Sayed has been trying to make amends with the Jewish community. asserted
Sayed → defeat → community
At a Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus event late last month, he apologized for saying that “hurt people hurt people” after a gunman targeted a Michigan synagogue in a Hezbollah-inspired terrorist attack on March 12. asserted
gunman → apologize → March
At the time, el Sayed was accused of antisemitism by members of his own party. asserted
Sayed → accuse → party
Soon after el Sayed made the apology, Vice President JD Vance denounced the Democrat’s initial statement on the synagogue attack as “very evil” while stumping for Michigan Republicans at a campaign event near Detroit. asserted
Vance → make → Detroit
In an additional knock against el Sayed, Vance revealed he hosted members of the Temple Israel synagogue in West Bloomfield at the rally. asserted
he → reveal → rally
The two have been feuding for weeks. asserted
two → feud → weeks
The primary purpose of Vance’s appearance at the campaign event was to lend his support to former Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, who’s running against el Sayed for the seat held by retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI). asserted
who → lend → Peters
Rogers is actively courting the state’s some 130,000 Jewish voters as he makes his case against el Sayed, a practicing Muslim, in the lead-up to the Nov. 3 general election. asserted
he → court → election
It appears the Republican is seeing some success on that front. asserted
Republican → appear → front
Rabbi Asher Lopatin, a prominent Jewish leader from Ann Arbor and lifelong Democrat, pledged to support Rogers at one of his recent campaign events. asserted
Lopatin → pledge → events
“There are many things that he’ll probably vote for that I would disagree with,” Lopatin said of Rogers, “but I think for the long term of the Democratic Party and for the country, we need to defeat el Sayed.” asserted
we → be → Sayed
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