Abdul El-Sayed's Michigan primary win is a watershed moment for anti-Israel Democrats

When progressive Abdul El-Sayed declared victory on Wednesday against his moderate opponent, US Representative Haley Stevens, he was celebrating a win in a hard-fought Democratic Senate primary battle in Michigan.

But he was also cheering on behalf of a much larger cause: The ascendant anti-Israel movement in the Democratic Party. El-Sayed isn't the first pro-Palestinian activist to win a major race. But more than any single candidate, his success demonstrates that the party is taking a sharp turn on Israel, and that it's doing so quickly.

In many senses, in fact, it's anti-Israel activists' biggest victory so far — and the biggest defeat for pro-Israel activists, including the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC.

The lobby spent an unprecedented $30 million or so on behalf of Stevens, part of more than $60 million in spending by outside groups that gave Stevens a nine-to-one financial advantage over El-Sayed.

A poll last month found that about half of Michigan Democrats have an unfavorable view of AIPAC, as opposed to just 12% who view it favorably.

In any case, however, the AIPAC discourse almost certainly isn't over. On Wednesday, as it licked its wounds from the primary defeat, the lobby said its "members remain determined to ensure that voters reject Dr. El-Sayed and his radical anti-Israel agenda in November.