Abdul El-Sayed’s victory has laid bare a truth about America's view on Israel | Peter Beinart

In Michigan, support for Israel was a kind of political hologram. But the media often made it seem real Among the things that Abdul El-Sayed’s victory last night in the Michigan Senate race revealed is this: the debate over US policy toward Israel does not primarily pit the left versus the right. It pits the top versus the bottom. There was no grassroots enthusiasm in the state for maintaining US military aid and weapons sales to Israel. That view no longer commands support even among ordinary Republicans. There was instead a massive infusion of pro-Israel money, mostly from extremely wealthy people. Peter Beinart is a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, editor at large at Jewish Currents, a professor at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York, and the author of The Beinart Notebook, a weekly newsletter. His most recent book is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza Continue reading...

In Michigan, support for Israel was a kind of political hologram. But the media often made it seem real

Among the things that Abdul El-Sayed’s victory last night in the Michigan Senate race revealed is this: the debate over US policy toward Israel does not primarily pit the left versus the right. It pits the top versus the bottom.

There was no grassroots enthusiasm in the state for maintaining US military aid and weapons sales to Israel. That view no longer commands support even among ordinary Republicans. There was instead a massive infusion of pro-Israel money, mostly from extremely wealthy people.

Peter Beinart is a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, editor at large at Jewish Currents, a professor at the Newmark School of Journalism at the City University of New York, and the author of The Beinart Notebook, a weekly newsletter. His most recent book is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza

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