About 200 rabbis and Jewish leaders delivered a petition to Michigan Democratic Party chair Curtis Hertel Jr. asking for public, enforceable protections for Jewish delegates at the Aug. 29 convention after Attorney General Dana Nessel said she would not attend because of safety concerns. Signers include Michigan congregation rabbis and national Jewish leaders, who point to a hostile environment at the party's April convention and a March attack at Temple Israel as reasons for alarm. Jewish Democratic organizations are urging Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed to take concrete actions to oppose antisemitism within party spaces.
Michigan Jewish Leaders Deliver Petition Urging Democratic Party To Protect Jewish Delegates
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel speaks on the third day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024. (Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images) (photo credit: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Michigan rabbis and Jewish community leaders delivered a petition to Curtis Hertel Jr., chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, asking the party to publicly guarantee the safety of Jewish delegates at the upcoming state convention. The petition, signed by roughly 200 clergy and Jewish figures, was prompted in part by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's decision to skip the Aug. 29 convention after saying she feared being targeted for harassment.
Calls For Clear, Enforceable Protections
The petition demands that party leadership make explicit that anyone who "chases, screams at, or otherwise harasses Jews at your convention will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." Its signers warn that if prominent Jewish officials are intimidated into staying away, the intimidation could spread beyond a single event.
"If Jews, including the highest-ranking Jewish state official in Michigan, are intimidated into staying away from your convention, it will not stop there."
Who Signed
Among the Michigan clergy who signed are five congregational rabbis representing Reform, Conservative and Humanistic traditions: Amy Bigman (Congregation Shaarey Zedek, East Lansing); Aaron Starr (Congregation Shaarey Zedek, Southfield); Nadav Caine (Beth Israel, Ann Arbor); Natalie Shribman (Temple Kol Ami, West Bloomfield); and Jeffrey Falick (Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit, Farmington Hills).
The petition also attracted national figures, including Rafael Medoff (director, David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies), Rabbi Etan Tokayer (president, Rabbinical Council of America), and historian-commentator Gil Troy, along with other rabbis and Jewish academics across the country.
Abdul El-Sayed campaigns for the U.S. Senate at the Michigan Democratic Nominating Convention in Detroit, Michigan, April 19, 2026. (Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (credit: Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Concerns About Rhetoric And Earlier Incidents
Although the petition did not name Abdul El-Sayed, the newly minted Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Michigan, many local Jewish Democrats say they are uneasy about his rhetoric on Israel and the campaign's response to prior threats to Jewish safety. They cite the March attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield and a contentious state convention in April as examples of an increasingly hostile environment.
"My commitment to Jewish safety is the same commitment that I have to the safety of my own daughters," El-Sayed said in his victory speech, acknowledging concerns but not directly addressing all demands.
Halie Soifer, chair of the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) and a Michigan native, urged El-Sayed to take specific actions. "Acceptance or tolerance of antisemitism in Democratic spaces must also come to an end, and this requires clear action, not just words," she wrote. Soifer called on El-Sayed to "stand with and defend Nessel and other Jewish Democrats," and said JDCA would prioritize electing "Democrats who share our values."
Context: April Convention And Campus Protests
Attendees described the April state convention as having a toxic atmosphere: some delegates booed U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, a pro-Israel primary rival of El-Sayed; an attorney with a social media history of praising Hezbollah was nominated to a ballot; and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow alleged antisemitic remarks were directed at her Jewish husband. Nessel has also been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists protesting her efforts to prosecute encampment demonstrators at the University of Michigan.
The Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus has similarly urged El-Sayed's campaign to reject rhetoric that "demonizes the Jewish civic identity." An El-Sayed campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the petition or concerns about antisemitism.
Why This Matters
More than 100,000 Jews live in Michigan, and a 2020 Brandeis University population survey found roughly two-thirds identify as Democrats — making the Jewish community an important constituency in the swing state. Petitioners and Jewish leaders are asking party leaders to translate assurances into concrete, enforceable measures so delegates can participate safely and without fear of harassment.
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