The Republican nominee for the Michigan Senate race, Mike Rogers, has asked the Israel lobby not to publicly campaign on his behalf, fearing it will be a liability rather than an asset amid anger among US voters over Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, Axios reported on 22 August.

After Rogers met with American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) chair Michael Tuchin in Los Angeles last week, the lobby group canceled the release of campaign ads targeting Rogers’ Democratic opponent, Abdul el-Sayed.

Sayed narrowly defeated Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary earlier this month, despite AIPAC spending $30 million on advertising for her campaign.

Sayed regularly expressed his opposition to Israel and its actions in Gaza during the primary, while pointing to Haley Stevens’ support from the Israel lobby.

Rogers’ request reportedly angered AIPAC chair Tuchin, who was prepared to spend similarly massive amounts to help his campaign, according to people familiar with the conversations.

“The extraordinary tension underscores how far AIPAC’s political standing has fallen amid voters’ anger over the war in Gaza,” Axios wrote.

Though Rogers is a strong supporter of Israel, he reportedly fears that open support from the Israel lobby would be a liability in the upcoming November election, which will determine whether Republicans will maintain control of the Senate.

Sayed was born in Michigan to parents who immigrated from Egypt. He served as a public health official in the state after graduating from medical school at Columbia University. If elected in November 2026, he will become the first Muslim senator in US history.

AIPAC made it a priority to defeat Sayed, who has called Israel a “rogue state” and described Tel Aviv’s actions as genocide and apartheid.

After winning the Democratic primary, he taunted the Israel lobby, saying “AIPAC, if you’re listening, come back and burn it again.”

According to Axios, Rogers still wants help from AIPAC, but in a way that does not put the group’s name “front and center,” such as by making donations to a pro-Rogers super PAC rather than running its own ads on Rogers’ behalf.

But AIPAC officials insisted they want a “visible role” in defeating Sayed.

Public opinion in the US has turned against Israel since 2023, when it launched its genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, killing over 73,000 people, the majority women and children.

Anger towards Israeli policies is strongest among Democratic voters, leading to a string of high-profile defeats for AIPAC-backed candidates in Democratic primaries this year.

On Thursday, Aisha Wahab won a special election in northern California, allowing her to serve out the remainder of Congressman Eric Swalwell’s term.

Wahab, a progressive Democrat of Afghan heritage, won the election despite massive spending by outside groups, including AIPAC.

She says she opposes US military aid to Israel and has called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide. AIPAC was determined to defeat Wahab even though, unlike Sayed, she has not been particularly outspoken in her opposition to Israel.

“She’s not an anti-Zionist,” Tye Gregory, chief of the Jewish Community Relations Council in San Francisco, told Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

In June, three Democratic candidates known for their opposition to Israel won primaries for Congressional seats in New York.

Brad Lander, Claire Valdez, and Darializa Avila Chevalier all won Democratic primaries and are expected to defeat Republican opponents in November’s general election easily.

According to Responsible Statecraft (RS), the US relationship with Israel and funding from AIPAC “became central components in each of these races.”

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Via https://thecradle.co/articles/us-republican-rejects-public-aipac-campaign-as-israel-lobby-becomes-liability