Pro-Israel Dem. Haley Stevens says anti-Zionism has become a hate movement in America -interview

Just weeks after a grueling primary battle and a recent engagement, Rep. Haley Stevens (D.-Michigan) does not sound defeated.

Although she recently lost her Democratic primary race in Michigan, Stevens arrived in Israel with a message that was as sharp as it was unequivocal: The movement to delegitimize Israel is not simply a policy debate – it is an infection.

“I believe that anti-Zionism is a hate movement that has taken over in America and throughout parts of the West,” Stevens said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

For Stevens, the rhetoric used by the far-left of her party has moved far beyond legitimate criticism of Israeli government policy.

“I think that Israel is more than just a punching bag for some of the challenges that America is facing,” she said, pointing to what she sees as a growing trend in which domestic American frustrations are projected onto the Middle East’s only democracy.

“There is this bizarre obsession that has reached pitch level with calling out one country, one tiny country in the Middle East,” she said, her voice rising with a mix of frustration and disbelief.

Stevens, who describes herself as a “traditional and classical liberal Democrat,” has long been a supporter of the US-Israel relationship.

But in the current political climate, that support has come with a heavy personal and professional price.

Rep. Stevens: I was demonized for supporting Israel 

“I was demonized for that,” Stevens recalled, reflecting on her recent years in office. “I was booed off my convention stage. I was chased out of a labor event in Detroit.”

The hostility was not limited to political rallies. Stevens described an environment in which “heightened bullying” became the norm.

When asked whether the harassment ever crossed the line into physical danger, Stevens replied: “I was on the verge of being attacked physically, and I’ve certainly been threatened. But I’m not a victim, I’m not a hero. I’m a public servant. I put up my hand to exercise my freedoms. I’m proud to do so. I’m proud to still stand.”

For Stevens, the tactics of the anti-Israel “mob” represent a fundamental threat to the American democratic fabric.

“We can’t say to people, ‘If you disagree, you get to break down civil society.’ You can’t say that. We don’t want that.”

The battle for the Democratic party

The Democratic Senate primary battle in Michigan became, in Stevens’s view, a microcosm of the national struggle over the future of the Democratic Party.

Stevens faced Abdul El-Sayed, a candidate of Egyptian origin whose approach to Israel she described as “poisonous.”

The contrast between the two candidates could hardly have been starker.

When El-Sayed was asked during the campaign whether Israel has a right to exist, he responded: “Israel exists. The question is whether or not we want a politics where our money is sent over to Israel to do genocide and apartheid instead of investing in our own kids.”

Stevens watched as support for Israel was transformed from a bipartisan consensus into what she called a “wedge issue.”

She acknowledged El-Sayed’s effectiveness in mobilizing younger voters through digital platforms.

“Abdul has done a very good job on the internet, you know, and being anti-Israel is also very popular on the internet,” she said.

Despite losing the primary, Stevens remains proud of the coalition she built, noting that she won Detroit and even secured Rashida Tlaib’s congressional district by “double digits.”

For the approximately 150,000 Jews living in Michigan who are increasingly fearful of the political climate, Stevens says her campaign demonstrated that pro-Israel Democrats can still build significant support.

“I think people here should be proud of how well I did, you know, as a pro-Israel Democrat. I think I’m hope,” she said.

‘Because there’s a war in the Middle East, we can have temples blown up?’

In March, a car-ramming and shooting attack targeted the Temple Israel synagogue. Stevens says the response from the anti-Israel left was almost as shocking as the violence itself.

El-Sayed appeared to offer a justification for the anger behind the attack, saying: “It’s just critical for us to understand that hurt people do hurt people. And the circumstances happening 6,000 miles away can affect the lives that we live here.”

Stevens was particularly critical of comments she heard from the mayor of Dearborn Heights in the aftermath of the attack.

“It hurt me to hear from the mayor of Dearborn Heights in the wake of the bombing: ‘Well, we have to stop Israel, we have to stop the war, we have to stop the bombing.’ And I thought, well, what are we saying with that? You’re saying because there’s a war in the Middle East that we can have temples now blown up in Michigan?”

Stevens traces the current “sickness” to the 2018 midterm elections, which saw the emergence of a vocal anti-Israel cohort within the Democratic Party.

Since then, she says, the hatred has “infected Democrats worse” than any other political group.

She also questioned what she sees as a double standard toward the world’s only Jewish state.

“We have one Jewish state, one teeny tiny Jewish state – why can’t we have a Jewish state? And there’s become this anti-Zionist hate and this assumption that this is colonial. And it is not. It is just people in their homeland trying to live.”

‘It’s a sickness that needs to end’

Stevens did not hold back when discussing the leadership of the progressive movement, including Senator Bernie Sanders.

“I really don’t know what Bernie Sanders has done for peace in the Middle East, for Palestinian dignity; I can’t think of anything he’s totally done. It’s a sickness that needs to end. You know, it’s a linkage towards extremism or Jihad, I don’t know.”

At the same time, Stevens acknowledged that the current Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has its flaws.

“Netanyahu has been a problem,” she said.

But she cautioned against using the policies of a particular government as a reason to delegitimize Israel itself.

“Your current government should not encapsulate a full people,” she said.

Stevens: US-Israel relationship critical for American national security

Ultimately, Stevens views her visit to Israel as a reminder of why the alliance remains a “national security strategic interest” for the US.

From witnessing advanced heart procedures at Hadassah Hospital to meeting with hi-tech entrepreneurs, Stevens said she sees Israel as an indispensable partner for Michigan and the broader US economy.

“I also see the US-Israel relationship being so critical to ways in which we can harness our own innovation and production capabilities,” she said.

“We work with Israel much more than we will work with other countries in this region on our shared interests and for the Jewish people as well, on innovation priorities.”

As she prepares for the next chapter of her career, Haley Stevens has a final message for the Israeli public, many of whom are watching the US political landscape with growing concern.

“Believe in yourselves and be proud of who you are,” she said.

“The Jewish people are a strong and resilient group. There will be voices like mine, whether I’m in elected office or not, that will be joining with other voices to stop anti-Zionism. We will continue to call it out.”