Noah Arbit, Mark Bernstein join ‘Nonnegotiable’ Jewish Democrats with policy demands for El-Sayed

Seventeen additional members of the Michigan Democratic Party on Tuesday joined a growing roster of Jewish voters who say they still have concerns about Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed — including state Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield) and University of Michigan Regent Mark Bernstein.

The group, Nonnegotiable Michigan, initially included rabbis and temple laypeople who asked El-Sayed to affirm five baseline commitments to American and Israeli Jewish safety, self-determination, statehood and political participation. El-Sayed has been deeply critical of the United States’ military alliance and diplomatic relationship with Israel given that nation’s occupation of Gaza and conduct during its war against Hamas.

Members of Nonnegotiable Michigan have said that their advocacy was not necessarily about U.S.-Israel policy, shipments of weapons, the war with Hamas or foreign aid, but rather about ensuring the safety and prosperity of American Zionist Jews in Michigan, across the nation and within the Democratic Party.

Some of the criticism of El-Sayed stems from his commentary on Israel and its war in Gaza, as well as concerns from Jewish Democrats that they no longer feel welcomed or safe in the party over what they view as  its shifting stance on support for Israel and the plight of the Palestinian people. 

Several Jewish Democrats and their allies have said they have been harassed while in public or made to feel unsafe at party events, including U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham, and Attorney General Dana Nessel. 

Both Nessel and Stevens have since endorsed the candidacy of El-Sayed despite their deep differences on Israel.

Michigan Jews for Democracy, which says it represents more than 600 Jewish Democrats, has also announced its support of El-Sayed, which includes former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Bloomfield Township) and his father, former U.S. Rep. Sander Levin.

Still, Nonnegotiable Michigan continued to press El-Sayed to address its concerns. The group said as recently as Tuesday that El-Sayed has yet to meet their demands.

“The organizers urge El-Sayed to state plainly whether the safety of Zionist Jews is nonnegotiable — without any ifs, ands, or buts — and whether he aspires to dismantle Jewish sovereignty and self-governance in the State of Israel,” the group said in a news release. “Nonnegotiable leaders are also asking El-Sayed to publicly reject and walk back rhetoric that stigmatizes and incites violence against Jewish Michiganders, that invokes longstanding anti-Jewish tropes and stereotypes, casts Jewish political participation as nefarious or corrupt, or scapegoats Israel and Jews for the suffering of Michiganders.”

In addition to Arbit and Bernstein, the organization’s roster now includes:

• Ellen Cogen Lipton, a former Democratic state representative;
• Rob Kalman, the former mayor of Keego Harbor;
• Adam Duberstein, a Clawson City Council member who serves on the executive board of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus;
• Sean Fleming, a Madison Heights Council member;
• Jonathan Warshay, the West Bloomfield Township supervisor;
• Teri Weingarden, West Bloomfield Township treasurer 
• Debbie Binder, the West Bloomfield Township clerk;
• David Kramer, the vice chair of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus;
• Joan Lowenstein, a member of the Michigan Democratic Party Central Committee and the executive board of Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus. Lowenstein is also the president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor;
• David Lauer, an executive board member of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus;
• Cindy Bank, a member of the Board of Directors for the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus;
• Michelle Serlin, a member of the Board of Directors for the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus;
• Michelle (Mimi) Miletic, a board member with the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus;
• Yehudis Brea, a board member of the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus; and
• Ron Lippitt, an officer-at-large with the Oakland County Democrats.