El-Sayed responded, “So, Kasie, AIPAC has become a big issue in this election because AIPAC has already spent $30 million in this election \u2014 they\u2019re by far the biggest spender in the race. Now, the question about a right to exist is interesting, because nobody\u2019s ever asked me whether I believe Palestine has a right to exist. Every single president who\u2019s served has said they believe in a two-state solution. Israel exists. The question is whether we want a politics where our money is sent over to Israel<\/a> to fund genocide and apartheid instead of investing in our own kids.”<\/p>\n Abdul El-Sayed, candidate for US Senate in Michigan, speaks before U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan.<\/p>\n (Getty Images)<\/p>\n Michigan Democratic Senate Candidate Claims Israel ‘Just As Evil’ As Hamas<\/a><\/p>\n Hunt noted that he said Israel exists but asked him again if the country had a right to exist.<\/p>\n “I didn\u2019t say that. I just said the question of Israel\u2018s existence is not a question. I\u2018m not going to play this gotcha game about whether or not it has a right to exist. The question, ultimately, is about whether or not we want a politics that dignifies equal rights,” he responded.<\/p>\n Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n The CNN host asked a third time, “You\u2019re not going to play the gotcha, but you\u2019re not going to say you think Israel has a right to exist?”<\/p>\n Hasan Piker Claims Israel Has No \u2018Right To Exist\u2019 In Its Current Form<\/a><\/p>\n El-Sayed dodged again and responded with a question he believed they should be asking instead, “Does everybody have equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination? That includes Jews, Israelis, and Palestinians?”<\/p>\n Democratic Senate Candidate Called For Mass Release Of Criminals During Prison Abolition Webinar<\/a><\/p>\n “And to me, the people who should answer what ultimate peace looks like there should be Jews, Israelis, and Palestinians. I want my tax dollars spent here in Michigan \u2014 to provide schools in Michigan, to build health care in Michigan, to invest in Michigan \u2014 rather than sent abroad to kill Palestinian people through genocide and apartheid. The question of whether Israel has a right to exist is actually quite secondary to whether it has a right to our tax dollars,” he continued.<\/p>\n He added, “So if you want to ask me about the Palestinian right to exist, if you want to ask me what I want to do for kids in Michigan, I\u2019m happy to answer those questions. But AIPAC and Israel<\/a> have become questions that too many people have to answer, because our tax dollars keep getting spent over there rather than being spent here.”<\/p>\n Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign for additional comment.<\/p>\n Abdul El-Sayed, speaks before Sen. Bernie Sanders and takes the stage at Mumford High School on May 3, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan.<\/p>\n Harris-backed Democrat Scrubs Blm-era Posts As House Campaign Heats Up<\/a><\/p>\n Hunt then brought up the since-deleted social media posts, which expressed support<\/a> for the defund the police movement<\/a>, among other things.<\/p>\n “Most major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments<\/a> to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty. Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about,” El-Sayed wrote in one June 2020 post<\/a> on X just several weeks after the death of George Floyd.<\/p>\n Hunt asked if he stood by what he previously said or if he thought police departments should be funded.<\/p>\n El-Sayed cited his work as a director of the Department of Health, Human, & Veterans Services in Wayne County, Michigan.<\/p>\n Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture<\/a><\/p>\n She pressed and asked again.<\/p>\n “Judge me by my work, I funded the system because it needed to be\u00a0funded. Too often the\u00a0conversation we have is fund or defund. The question that we don\u2018t ask is, what kind of system do we really want? I want\u00a0us to be investing in the kinds of interventions that actually protect people,” he said, citing recruitment and retirement for law enforcement, community violence intervention, behavioral health\u00a0response, and more.<\/p>\n Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n El-Sayed then took a shot at CNN and added, “And I think this debate about 2020 and the ways that tweets are\u00a0going to play are really nice\u00a0on CNN. If you want to get clicks, they\u2018re not that effective, and nobody really asks me about them on\u00a0the streets or in communities in\u00a0Michigan. So if you want to talk about housing or healthcare or\u00a0corporate dominance in our politics, I think those are a\u00a0lot more legitimate questions\u00a0that people are actually asking me about what they want their\u00a0next senator to do in the state\u00a0of Michigan, rather than for clickbait in D.C.”<\/p>\n Original article source: Michigan Senate candidate confronted repeatedly over Israel\u2019s right to exist, defunding the police<\/a><\/p>\n![\"El-Sayed\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/92add9f5acd78df666cd9c675b5ab18d.jpeg\"\/)
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