BIRMINGHAM — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, saying the decision “wasn’t easy” amid opposition to the progressive candidate from some supporters of Israel over his advocacy for Palestinian rights.

Appearing on a local podcast, Nessel, Michigan’s highest-ranking elected Jewish official, said she could not remain true to her values if she considered voting for Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers.

“Yes, I’m voting for Abdul,” Nessel said as she sat beside El-Sayed on an episode of For the Sake of the Argument hosted by Lori Goldman. “We have one candidate who I know will fight the Trump administration and fight to protect our security, safety, health and future.”

In the episode, released Tuesday, Nessel said Rogers would do none of those things and accused him of being interested only in increasing his personal wealth and winning praise from President Trump.

“So I don’t want to say the choice is easy,” she said. “I’ll say there is no other choice. And that is why I’m supporting Abdul for the United States Senate.”

Nessel had endorsed El-Sayed’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Rep. Haley Stevens, who narrowly lost the August 4 election.

Political observers view Nessel’s endorsement, though delayed, as a step toward Democratic unity ahead of the November election. The El-Sayed–Rogers contest is widely seen as important to the fight for control of the U.S. Senate.

Democrats must retain the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Gary Peters to preserve their chances of winning a majority in the chamber, where Republicans currently hold 53 seats to Democrats’ 47.

During the podcast, El-Sayed thanked Nessel for her support while acknowledging that they “don’t agree on everything.”

“I know we won’t always agree on everything,” he said. “But I also know that you care about my children and have fought for them. And I know that you know I care about your children, have fought for them and will continue to fight for them. That is something we can do together.”

Nessel had withheld an endorsement for several weeks after El-Sayed’s primary victory. Speaking to a gathering of Jewish Democrats in Birmingham in late August, she urged attendees to vote in November according to their Jewish values without mentioning him by name.

At the time, Nessel said it would be “very easy” for Jewish Michigan voters to resent fellow Democrats whom they felt had abandoned and sacrificed them despite their lifelong contributions to the party.

Her remarks reflected tensions among some Jewish Democrats in Michigan over El-Sayed’s earlier description of Israel as “a rogue state committing genocide against Palestinians.”

As Rogers seeks support from Jewish Democrats reluctant to back El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee has met with Jewish groups more than once. He has also repeated an apology for earlier comments about the March attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield that some interpreted as excusing the assault. The attacker was the only person killed.

Pressure from Jewish leaders

Although Nessel has now publicly endorsed El-Sayed, some liberal rabbis and other Jewish leaders in Michigan continue to withhold their support. They have called on him to change aspects of his positions and rhetoric concerning Israel.

A campaign called Non-Negotiables is asking the Democratic nominee to condemn threats to the safety of Jewish Americans, recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state and welcome the full participation of Jews in American political life, including Zionists.

Rabbis leading the campaign say they represent 40,000 Jewish Michiganders. They cite, in part, El-Sayed’s position on Israel, his association with commentator Hasan Piker and his criticism of spending by pro-Israel lobbying groups, particularly AIPAC.

“We’ve seen a change in tone, and I appreciate some of the apologies he has made over the past two weeks,” Rabbi Aaron Starr of Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield told the Detroit News last week. “I also appreciate some of his recent comments about the Middle East. But all of that is still not enough.”

Starr said he was concerned that El-Sayed had taken contradictory positions and had not gone far enough to address issues central to many members of his community.

While some Jewish community members have urged voters to support Rogers because of his position on Israel, a separate group of more than 620 Jewish voters, including former U.S. Rep. Andy Levin, has pledged to vote for El-Sayed. The signatories acknowledged continuing reservations about his approach to Israel.

In a letter, the group, organized as Michigan Jews for Democracy, said an El-Sayed victory in November would be a critical step toward checking Donald Trump.