El-Sayed says Israel and Iran pose different dangers
Abdul El-SayedMichigan Democratic Senate candidate
El-Sayed calls the question of which country is the bigger threat ridiculous and says Israel and Iran have each proven dangerous to the United States in different ways.
“I think both of them have proven dangerous in their own way.”
Original video
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Abdul El-Sayed describes dangers from Israel and Iran; Pete Buttigieg draws an ally-enemy distinction
Abdul El-Sayed declined to rank Israel and Iran as threats during Michigan's Senate debate, describing different dangers from each. Pete Buttigieg answered that Iran is an enemy and Israel an ally, while saying he would still vote for El-Sayed.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
WOOD TV8's recording of the Grand Rapids debate between Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers, moderated by Rick Albin. Albin played El-Sayed's earlier answer to NewsNation, then twice asked whether Israel or Iran was the bigger threat to the United States. El-Sayed called the question ridiculous, said Israel had lobbied the United States to go to war with Iran, and said both countries had proven dangerous in their own way.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
Daniel Villarreal quotes both answers and Buttigieg's explanation that he will still vote for El-Sayed. The article contains commentary as well as reporting.
Reporting
About this source
Drew Berkemeyer reports the competing answers and Buttigieg's continued electoral support. El-Sayed describes different dangers rather than explicitly calling the countries equal threats.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Moderator Rick Albin played El-Sayed's earlier answer to NewsNation, in which he called the question dumb, and asked again whether Israel or Iran was the bigger threat to the United States. El-Sayed called it a ridiculous hypothetical. He said Israel had lobbied the United States to go to war with Iran, that Iran had responded by bombing countries across the Middle East and choking off the world's energy supply, and that he did not consider a country that takes the United States into wars it need not fight an ally. He said that made both countries kind of dangerous. Albin then asked a final time.
After the quotation
He then said one country was at risk of attacking the United States and the other was getting it into wars it had no business fighting. His earlier remarks tie the first to Iran and the second to Israel. He did not name either country as the greater threat or call the two equal.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Reference point: El-Sayed's refusal to rank Israel and Iran as threats and his comparison of the dangers they pose. Defended or excused: this is that answer, given and explained by El-Sayed, who repeats the comparison when pressed a final time. Explicitly stayed out is the closest competing label, since he called the question ridiculous and would not pick a country, but it loses because he went on to say both had proven dangerous rather than refusing to address the matter.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseHewitt praises Buttigieg's distinction from El-Sayed
“Thus far only @PeteButtigieg has separated himself from the radicalism of Abdul El-Sayed. It was deft but definite.”Read statement
Trent defends El-Sayed against repeated questioning
“I mean, he’s put it to rest so many times. It just keeps getting asked and asked and asked.”Read statement
MacCallum says El-Sayed must distinguish allies from enemies
“You have to be able to understand who is our enemy and who is our ally. That is an easy, easy question, okay?”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- El-Sayed says Israel and Iran pose different dangers
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/5888-el-sayed-calls-the-question-of-which-country
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "El-Sayed says Israel and Iran pose different dangers". First published: 2026-10-18. Last updated: 2026-10-18. https://disputeindex.com/events/5888-el-sayed-calls-the-question-of-which-country