About half of likely Michigan Democratic primary voters hold an unfavorable view of the pro-Israel group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to a new statewide poll, but respondents overall didn’t rate a candidate’s position on Israel and Gaza as of great importance when choosing a Senate nominee.

“It is not of high interest, despite the national narrative,” pollster Richard Czuba said, referring to national news coverage of the Michigan U.S. Senate contest.

“As you ask voters to look across the spectrum about issues that matter to them, this isn’t one of them.”

More: Stevens gains edge in Dems’ Senate race that remains ‘wide open,’ poll finds

The Detroit News/WDIV-TV (Channel 4) poll of 500 likely Michigan Democratic primary voters was conducted last week by Czuba’s Glengariff Group and had a margin of error of plus-minus 4.4 percentage points.

A majority of respondents said antisemitism against Jewish Americans has risen, that they support both a Palestinian state and Israel’s right to exist, and believe Israel has “gone too far” in its war against the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Overall, the likely Michigan Democratic primary voters rated a Senate candidate’s position on Israel and Gaza at 5.6 on a 10-point scale. Czuba said a measurement over 7 usually indicates some level of importance, while 8 is considered demonstrating a high level of importance.

Supporters of Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor rated the issue a 6, while those backing U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens of Birmingham rated it 5.2. Undecided voters in the survey were at 5.7.

“That’s not surprising to me at all,” said consultant Adrian Hemond, a Democrat and CEO of Grassroots Midwest.

“It’s hard to get Americans to care about foreign policy while American troops are not getting shot, and that’s not happening right now. That’s not to say they don’t care about it at all, but in terms of what influences their voting behavior? Nah.”

Half of Michigan Democrats sour on AIPAC

Israel and Gaza have been a point of contrast and contention between El-Sayed and Stevens: Stevens is a staunch supporter of Israel who has voted for U.S. military aid for that country, while El-Sayed has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. He wants to end the U.S. practice of subsidizing foreign militaries, including Israel’s.

El-Sayed has also repeatedly hit Stevens on the $49 million of outside spending — including $26 million from an AIPAC-aligned group — that’s flowed into the race to help boost her bid, according to recent ad-tracking figures.

“Explain what you’ve given away for AIPAC support in this race,” El-Sayed demanded in last week’s televised debate in Grand Rapids.

“No one owns my vote, and no one owns my policies,” Stevens shot back.

More: Pro-Israel PAC uses ‘loophole’ to quietly fund Haley Stevens in Democratic U.S. Senate primary

In the debate last week, Stevens pointed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criticism of her and said Netanyahu had “failed” in securing long-term peace and in providing humanitarian aid in Gaza. The remark appeared to be an effort to put some distance between herself and the support she’s getting from AIPAC that has turned off some Democrats.

“I can say that Israel has a right to peacefully exist alongside the people of Palestine and in Gaza,” she said.

The poll conducted last week found that 49% of Democratic primary voters have an unfavorable opinion of AIPAC. About 12% view AIPAC favorably, and 39% were neutral ― with no opinion of the pro-Israel lobby group ― or said they didn’t know. About 34% of voters expressed a “very” unfavorable opinion of AIPAC.

About 65% of El-Sayed’s supporters expressed an unfavorable view of AIPAC, with 8% favorable and 26% neutral, while fewer Stevens’ voters, 38%, view AIPAC unfavorably and 16.5% favorably, with 45% neutral.

The group does not seem to be a motivating issue for undecided voters, 65% of whom were neutral on AIPAC, according to poll results.

“What this issue has become is virtue-signaling to the far left that you’re one of us,” Czuba said of AIPAC opposition.

Scott Cruz, 61, of South Lyon, said he learned about AIPAC about six months ago, but has been concerned for decades about the amount of money the U.S. gives to Israel. In more recent years, what started as Israel’s understandable response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas has advanced far beyond that, said Cruz, who participated in the poll.

Embattled Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel on Tuesday addressed the latest round of reports about his potential exit from the university, saying he has had conversations about a potential buyout.

“I think I’ve been fired by social media three times in my ten years here,” Manuel said during a previously scheduled interview on The Big 1050 WTKA.

Multiple media outlets recently suggested his job is in jeopardy amid investigations into the culture of the department and fired football coach Sherrone Moore’s relationship with his former executive assistant.

The investigations have cost the university about $12 million, and it may not release all the related reports.

“Documents related to these attorney-directed investigations are privileged and confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege,” school spokesman Paul Corliss said Tuesday. “Maintaining the confidentiality of these documents preserves the integrity of the investigative process, protects the privacy of those who participated and helps safeguard those individuals from potential retaliation.”

Michigan’s board has a meeting on Thursday, where the publicly accessible agenda does not mention Manuel or the investigations.

“I have four years left on my contract,” said Manuel, who acknowledged talks about a possible buyout. “I don’t know what the future is going to be.

“I do feel confident in the things I have done here at Michigan. I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished.”

Manuel said he has helped the Wolverines have their best 10-year stretch, winning this year’s national championship in men’s basketball along with recent football, men’s and women’s gymnastics NCAA titles, 95 Big Ten championships and 4,000-plus student-athletes earning academic all-conference honors.

Michigan also has had a string of scandals under his watch.

Manuel fired Moore for having an inappropriate relationship with his executive assistant, who sued the school earlier this month.

The football program is on NCAA probation, was tarnished by a sign-stealing scheme and has seen many former staffers have run-ins with the law, including Matt Weiss, who is charged with hacking into the computer accounts of thousands of college athletes to find intimate images.

Manuel is also named in a lawsuit — along with the university, its board, a former school president and Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti — filed by fired assistant football coach Chris Partridge that claims Michigan knew about the sign-stealing scandal nearly a year before the public did.

The 58-year-old Manuel, who played football at Michigan under the late Bo Schembechler and was on the track team, was hired to lead the department in 2016. He signed a contract extension at Michigan in 2024 that runs through June 2030.

Manuel, a New Orleans native, previously served as athletic director at Connecticut and Buffalo after working in Michigan’s athletic department in various roles from 1996 to 2005.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

Note: The video above originally aired on July 9, 2026.

Barely three months since students flooded downtown Ann Arbor and chanted “Tt’s great … to be … a Michigan Wolverine” as they celebrated Michigan basketball’s first NCAA championship in 37 years, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone on the school’s campus who feels great about anything in the athletics department.

Instead, the university found itself in a much different and darker place Monday, July 13, when it faced new legal accusations that replaced all that happy singing with the deafening silence emitted through a barrage of “no comment” statements.

An amended lawsuit from former Wolverines linebackers coach Chris Partridge alleges former school president Santa Ono worked to hide details of the football team’s sign-stealing scandal and that athletic department leaders knew about ex-coach Sherrone Moore’s affair with staff member Paige Shriver years before it led to his firing.

And Warde Manuel – the athletic director who orchestrated that jubilation three months ago and even more jubilation three years earlier, when Michigan football won its first title in a quarter-century – finds himself in the eye of the storm as he faces the end of his highly successful but troubled tenure.

Manuel is named in Partridge’s lawsuit, which claims he knew about Moore’s relationship with Shriver “for years without taking action to protect the employee.” 

He’s also a focal point of an investigation that began in December, run by Chicago law firm Jenner & Block and costing the school nearly $12 million. The Free Press has learned that higher-ups have been briefed on the findings. The U-M Board of Regents is expected to discuss that investigation at a Thursday meeting in Traverse City.