ON the Sunday before Election Day in the US, the Democratic leadership was in uproar. The reason was Israel — though not obviously so. The action took place in Detroit, Michigan, where Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed was in a close race against Republican Mike Rogers. Rogers had run a campaign marked by Islamophobic attacks on El-Sayed’s Muslim faith, portraying him as a security threat and making unfounded allegations of extremist sympathies.
In the primary election that decided the Democratic nominee, El-Sayed had defeated Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who had said she “dreamed of Israel” and had benefited from nearly $30 million in spending by pro-Israel lobbies. Despite this, El-Sayed was able to win.
Stevens decided that Sunday morning that she would endorse El-Sayed’s opponent, a man she had previously criticised. It was an extraordinary move that drew condemnation from her fellow Democrats and the American left. Appearing at an African-American church alongside Rogers, Stevens said that she just couldn’t support El-Sayed and would, instead, back the Republican.
For the 48 hours until the election, Stevens got tons of attention. In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, she struggled to explain why she had withdrawn support for a candidate she had previously endorsed. Pro-Zionist commentators on the American right were gleeful.
Maybe they hoped El-Sayed, who had openly opposed the war against Iran and called Gaza a genocide, would not win. It was a close election, and Stevens might persuade some Black and Jewish voters in Michigan not to vote for the man who would become the first Muslim senator in US history.
As we know now, their predictions were wrong. El-Sayed defeated Rogers, becoming the first Muslim elected to the US Senate. Democrats also won control of both Houses of Congress, while several Muslim candidates, including Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Andre Carson won election or re-election.
Democrat victories show voters oppose blanket support for Israel.
Of all of them, El-Sayed had been the most plainspoken about the problem with US support for Israel. The particular mastery of his campaign was that it took the very Trumpian rhetoric of ‘America First’ and turned it on its head. El-Sayed argued that politicians who prioritised billions in aid to Israel over domestic needs were putting another country’s interests before those of ordinary Americans.
This message resonated with voters all around the country. The issue of whether a politician is ‘America First’ rather than ‘Israel First’ has become part of the political conversation. This is particularly worrisome for establishment Democrats who would compete to demonstrate their love for Israel.
The Democratic victories have clearly shown that the party voter wants to end the blanket support for Israel that has long been an American tradition. Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, presumptive leaders of the Senate and House, have both said that they do not support sending unending aid to Israel. They know which way the wind is blowing.
The biggest evidence of this, however, came from the Republicans — really from the vice president himself. Even as the results were coming in, J.D. Vance took to X and wrote a lengthy post on why his party had lost so abysmally. Vance pointed directly to the war in Iran — which America entered at Israel’s behest — saying it had cost Republicans the election. It was a shocking yet understandable acknowledgment. It made sense for Vance — who is likely to run for president in 2028 — to try and distance himself from Trump right away. Now, he is seeking to ally himself with anti-Israel figures on the American right like Tucker Carlson.
Carlson’s opposition to Israel is pointed in that he said he would have voted for El-Sayed simply because he was so fed up with unending support for Israel, which he thought had a harmful influence on America’s politics. Carlson has urged his supporters to understand how American democracy was being turned into a sham by Israeli influence.
The America that woke up on Nov 4, 2026, is, therefore, a remarkably different America. Israel’s government has long relied on strong bipartisan support in Washington, and pro-Israel organisations have spent enormous sums to ensure that American politicians will always be in their pocket. Those days are not decisively over.
It is likely that when the new lawmakers take office in January, legislation and limits will be pursued on all aid to Israel that could see the amount of military support drastically reduced. America voted for change this week but it is likely that it is Israel — with much reduced US support after January — that will see the greatest change in its circumstances.
The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
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Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2026
Source: www.dawn.com
