Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed says U.S. money for Israel’s $2.8 billion bomb package should instead be spent on schools at home
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said U.S. taxpayer money used to finance military support for Israel should instead be invested in American schools, healthcare and other domestic priorities.
El-Sayed made the remarks in an interview with Jon Stewart on “The Weekly Show,” released Wednesday, October 21, as he discussed his opposition to unconditional U.S. military aid to foreign governments.
“Detroit Public Schools just had $700 million invested in their buildings. They still are behind $1.8 billion,” El-Sayed said. He contrasted those needs with a $2.8 billion U.S. munitions package for Israel that includes tens of thousands of 2,000-pound bombs.
“A 2,000-pound bomb never gave a kid an education. It never fed somebody, never provided healthcare,” he said.
El-Sayed said his position was not limited to Israel, arguing that he opposed unconditional military assistance to foreign governments including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Jordan.
He also defended his support for Michigan’s “uncommitted” movement during the 2024 Democratic presidential primary, saying Arab and Muslim voters wanted to protest the Biden administration’s Gaza policy. El-Sayed described Israel’s campaign in Gaza as genocide and said he backed the protest vote to send a message to his own party.
After Joe Biden left the race, El-Sayed said he endorsed Kamala Harris because he believed Donald Trump would be worse for both Palestinians and people in Detroit. He said he spent the following 106 days urging Arab and Muslim leaders to support Harris while pressing her campaign to distinguish itself from Biden’s policies, but said “there was no budging.”
El-Sayed also rejected suggestions that his focus on Israel meant he cared more about the West Bank than Michigan. “The money that we are spending to subsidize apartheid in the West Bank is money that should be used on the West Side,” he said. “That’s our money. It should be spent here.”