Michigan’s 100,000 ‘uncommitted’ votes show Israel’s impact on Biden

DEARBORN, Michigan/ WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s campaign and top Democratic officials vowed to double down on efforts to win over voters as the US president aims to solve conflicts in the Middle East after Michigan registered a stronger-than-anticipated protest vote over his support of Israel.

About 13.2% of Michigan Democrats cast a ballot for “uncommitted” in the primary, following a weeks-long push by activists, an Edison Research tally showed early Wednesday morning.

Turnout for the Democratic primary was also high, at some 900,000 voters overall. About 81% of those votes backed Biden.

As the results were being tallied, a senior Biden campaign official said the team will continue to “make our case in the state - to both uncommitted voters and the entire Michigan constituency . ... The president will continue to work for peace in the

Middle East.”

Biden’s staunch support for Israel during its five-month war with Hamas, which has decimated Gaza, has sparked outrage and a well-organized backlash among progressive Democrats and Arab Americans, with Michigan as their epicenter.

They asked Biden to push for a permanent ceasefire in

Gaza, and for sympathetic Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in the primary to signal Biden could lose their support in the November general election, aiming for 10,000 votes, a low figure historically. About 20,000 uncommitted votes were cast in Michigan’s 2012 Democratic primary, the last time a Democratic president was up for reelection in Michigan.

Biden won Michigan by a less than 3% margin in 2020, and some polls show likely Republican candidate Donald Trump ahead in a headto-head match-up this time.

Hamas fighters killed 1,200 people and captured 253 hostages on October 7, triggering

forward a plan for haredi IDF service, even with the support of the opposition. Any plan that was accepted by all parties in the coalition would be acceptable to him, he said, adding that he would not bring forward a plan that was not accepted by all of them, including National Unity, the centrist party that joined the coalition after the war began.

Earlier this week, the High Court of Justice issued a series of conditional orders that threatened to upend the government’s policies on drafting haredi students after hearing two petitions.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the main petitioners, said the conditional orders were a dramatic and important step “on the way to full equality in conscription.

Earlier this month, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said the laws surrounding conscription should change so that all members of society defend the country.

“In these challenging times, one thing is very clear: Everyone should do their part to protect our home,” he said. “This is a different time, and prior realities should be reexamined.”

The IDF on Wednesday said two company commanders in Givati’s Tzabar Battalion were killed in Zeitoun in the northern Gaza Strip: Capt. Itai Seif, 24, from Yeruham; and Maj. Iftah Shahar, 25, from Paran. They were killed in a booby-trapped home, and seven other soldiers were seriously wounded.

Central Arava Regional Council head Meir Zur said Iftah was “perfect. He was smart, a leader, a fighter, and had strong values. He loved his family, Paran, where he was raised, and the people of the Arava. He was a leader from a young age.”

Thousands of people attended Seif’s funeral, where his mother said: “After 24 years, I am returning my gift, my son, to God. You were perfect.”

His siblings, Shahar, Neta, and Ori, in a joint statement, said he was “a valued and loved commander. You served as an example to your soldiers. We want you to know we will stay a strong and united family.”

Also in Zeitoun, the 162nd Division identified a terrorist squad, which was eliminated by a helicopter crew, the IDF said. Soldiers also attacked buildings used by Hamas and raided infrastructure, killing dozens of terrorists and finding weapon.

The IDF attacked eight targets in Gaza from where rockets were launched toward Ashkelon on Tuesday, the IDF said Wednesday. Troops also targeted terrorist shafts and infrastructures from which terrorists exited to carry out terrorist activities.

In Khan Yunis, the 7th Brigade raided buildings where troops found weapons and military equipment, the IDF said. Troops killed five terrorists in a vehicle. In addition, IAF jets attacked two military compounds, killing terrorists.

As part of a joint coordination effort, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States airdropped various supplies to Gazan residents, the IDF said Wednesday. About 160 packages of food and medical equipment were transferred to Gazan residents in the southern Gaza Strip and the Jordanian field hospital in Khan Yunis.

The food packages were airdropped over Tuesday and Wednesday to about 17 locations along the southern coastline of the Gaza Strip using French, American, Egyptian, Emirati, and Jordanian airplanes.

In the North, Hamas forces in Lebanon fired 10 to 40 rockets at Israel in multiple rounds on Wednesday. Hamas said it had fired 40 Grad rockets, but the IDF said 10 entered Israeli airspace. No casualties were reported. One rocket hit an evacuated house in Kiryat Shmona, and 26 air-raid sirens were sounded by late afternoon on Wednesday.

In response, the IDF targeted the source of the launches and struck targets in four parts of southern Lebanon.

IAF jets also attacked a Hezbollah munition warehouse and military buildings in the Ramyeh region of southern Lebanon. Overnight, the IDF attacked a Hezbollah weapon production site in the Khirbet Selm area.

One soldier was moderately injured on Wednesday morning after a military vehicle overturned in the Hermon area, and two others were lightly injured.

Earlier on Wednesday, Hamas said on its Telegram channel it had bombed the headquarters of the 769th Eastern Brigade and the airport barracks in Beit Hillel. The IDF refuted the report.

In recent days, exchanges of fire between the IDF and Hezbollah have intensified and reached deeper into each side’s territory, but this was the first Hamas rocket attack on Israel from Lebanon in several weeks.

The IDF has killed dozens of Hamas terrorists in Lebanon and more than 200 Hezbollah terrorists.

Michael Starr, Sam Halpern, and Reuters contributed to this

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