Rabbi Josh Whinston calls El-Sayed's Jewish safety pledge disingenuous
Rabbi Josh WhinstonRabbi, Temple Beth Emeth; co-author of the "Nonnegotiable Michigan" commitments
Rabbi Josh Whinston told The Center Square that El-Sayed's statement about caring for the safety of the Jewish community like his own daughters felt "completely disingenuous" because, he said, it came the same day El-Sayed called Israel's leadership "bloodthirsty" on national television.
“He went on national television that morning and called Israel's leadership 'bloodthirsty,' and that evening issued a statement about caring for the safety of the Jewish community like his own daughters To me, that just feels completely disingenuous. Those things are worlds apart from each other.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Abdul El-Sayed's cycle of violence framing after the Temple Israel attack
After an armed assailant attacked Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed condemned the attack and antisemitism but connected the assailant's actions to an Israeli airstrike that killed members of his family, describing violence as a cycle. Critics said the framing rationalized an antisemitic terrorist attack or shifted responsibility toward Israel and Jews. El-Sayed denied justifying the attack and later apologized for introducing context when the victims needed an unqualified condemnation.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
The Center Square report, republished on AOL, on the Nonnegotiable Michigan coalition's five commitments. It quotes Rabbi Josh Whinston of Temple Beth Emeth, who helped write the commitments, and reports the coalition's statement that there had been "crickets" from the El-Sayed campaign.
Before the quotation
The Center Square reported that Nonnegotiable Michigan, a coalition whose five commitments Whinston helped write, first asked El-Sayed on September 8 to affirm them. The coalition said there had been "crickets" from his campaign since then. The article also cited El-Sayed's August statement that his commitment to Jewish safety was the same as his commitment to the safety of his own daughters.
After the quotation
Whinston said the coalition is not asking El-Sayed to abandon his views on Israel or the Middle East. El-Sayed's campaign did not respond to The Center Square's request for comment.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Whinston calls El-Sayed's pledge on Jewish safety "completely disingenuous," saying it came the same day El-Sayed called Israel's leadership "bloodthirsty" on national television. That is a direct criticism of the candidate and a firmer one than his earlier statement in this case.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Abdul El-Sayed
Corrections to this statement
These notices document reporting corrections, classification changes, and topic-label updates.
Reporting correction
Correction to: Statement by Rabbi Josh Whinston
- Previous language
- crickets... His antisemitism statement is disingenuous, given his having called Israel bloodthirsty and evil.
- Corrected language
- He went on national television that morning and called Israel's leadership 'bloodthirsty,' and that evening issued a statement about caring for the safety of the Jewish community like his own daughters ... To me, that just feels completely disingenuous. Those things are worlds apart from each other.
The earlier quotation did not appear in The Center Square's report. "Crickets" was the Nonnegotiable Michigan coalition's word, not Whinston's, and the rest was the reporter's summary of his view. We replaced the quotation with Whinston's own words as The Center Square printed them and corrected the summary, title and context.
This corrects our account of what happened.
The Center Square report, republished on AOL, on the Nonnegotiable Michigan coalition's five commitments. It quotes Rabbi Josh Whinston of Temple Beth Emeth, who helped write the commitments, and reports the coalition's statement that there had been "crickets" from the El-Sayed campaign.
More from this case
Read the full caseEl-Sayed disputes claim that he failed to condemn attack
“I did condemn it”Read statement
Rogers renews criticism of El-Sayed's attack response
“He can't condemn a terrorist act that happened on our soil in the state of Michigan.”Read statement
Rogers spokesperson Alyssa Brouillet calls El-Sayed's apology fake
“The only reason he issued a fake apology five months later is because the polling told him to”Read statement
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- Rabbi Josh Whinston calls El-Sayed's Jewish safety pledge disingenuous
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The Dispute Index. "Rabbi Josh Whinston calls El-Sayed's Jewish safety pledge disingenuous". First published: 2026-09-17. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/781-rabbi-josh-whinston-told-the-center-square-that