Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens, who lost Michigan's Senate primary to Abdul El-Sayed last month, criticised Sen. Bernie Sanders in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, saying she could not identify anything he had done for peace in the Middle East or "Palestinian dignity" and describing anti-Zionism as a "sickness" linked to extremism. The remarks add to tensions within the Democratic Party over Israel policy, coming as Stevens has also urged El-Sayed, who defeated her in the primary, to distance himself from left-wing streamer Hasan Piker despite having endorsed him.

Stevens told the outlet she believes anti-Zionism has become a "hate movement" across America and the West, though she was also critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him a "problem". She described herself as a Zionist Democrat and said she wanted to reassure Jewish, Black and moderate Democratic voters that there was still room for them in the party. Human rights lawyer Qasim Rashid rejected her comments as "profoundly disappointing", citing documented allegations of genocide against Israel and arguing her stance risked ceding Michigan to Republicans. The dispute unfolds against a backdrop of declining American support for Israel, according to an NBC News poll from March, more than two years into the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.