WASHINGTON (TNND) — Israel and the war with Iran are emerging as contentious issues in some of the nation’s most competitive Senate races, exposing divisions among Democrats over America’s longtime ally as Republicans seek to capitalize ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Debate exchanges in Michigan, Georgia and Maine put Democratic candidates on the defensive over their positions on Israel, the war in Gaza and U.S. involvement in the Middle East. (TNND)
Debate exchanges in Michigan, Georgia and Maine put Democratic candidates on the defensive over their positions on Israel, the war in Gaza and U.S. involvement in the Middle East.
In Michigan, Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed faced repeated questions about whether Iran or Israel poses a greater threat to the United States.
“Again, that’s a ridiculous question,” El-Sayed responded to the moderator. “I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way.”
Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers sharply criticized El Sayed’s response. “Yesterday was October 7th; this is why you should get absolutely angry. He could not even bring himself to acknowledge the pain, the terrorism, the rape, the murders, cutting off of women’s breasts, putting children in ovens and killing them in front of their families.”
In Georgia, Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff faced questions about growing anti-Israel sentiment within his party.
Rather than directly addressing that concern, Ossoff chose to discuss allegations of genocide in Gaza.
“The question of genocide is the question of whether a government has specific intent to destroy a national or ethnic group. And that is a question for the International Criminal Court,” said Ossoff. “There is no doubt in my mind that Israeli forces prosecuting the war in Gaza violated the law of armed conflict.”
His Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins, responded with a pointed attack.
“He hates Israel, loves Iran,” Collins said. “That’s his pick. He’s moved as far left as he can go.”
In Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson called for an end to U.S. offensive weapons shipments to Israel and described Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a “war criminal.”
Jackson also accused Republican Sen. Susan Collins and her husband of profiting from the Iran war, an allegation Collins rejected as outrageous.
The exchanges underscore a broader debate within the Democratic Party over U.S. military assistance to Israel, the humanitarian toll of the Gaza war and the future of American involvement in the Middle East.
Republicans are increasingly using those disagreements to portray Democratic candidates as abandoning a key American ally.
With control of Congress at stake in November, the issue is becoming another dividing line in the Senate battle.