Those on the political Left who have tolerated or accepted antisemitism should be held to account, Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) told reporters in Jerusalem during his first visit to Israel.
“It’s crazy now that [Zionism] becomes a slur in certain circles,” Fetterman said, adding that “it’s been turned into like, ‘you Zionist,’ or whatever. It’s crazy.”
He sat in a side room at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel wearing his iconic white-hooded sweatshirt and shorts.
The tall bald-headed politician with a small gray goatee is an unabashed supporter of Israel, and October 7 has only made him more so.
“There is a reckoning necessary in the political left with antisemitism and [how] certain factions have responded after October 7, whether it’s somebody in a pop tent on a campus or blocking worshippers in Los Angeles from getting into their synagogue. It’s vital, and I don’t hear a lot of people in on that side really being asked about that,” he said.
He also dismissed as absurd the charges of genocide leveled against Israel for its war in Gaza, noting that if this were the case, the IDF would not have allowed over a million people to flee Rafah ahead of its military campaign there.
“What kind of a nation that is committed to genocide would allow” its supposed victims to leave the battlefield scene so they would not be hurt.
“There are people… calling that this is a genocide. That’s appalling,” he said.
Unapologetic in supporting Israel
Fetterman noted that US President Joe Biden has been clear in describing himself as a Zionist and a supporter of Israel.
“I absolutely believe that Joe Biden is a strong, strong, unapologetic ally of Israel, even when I happen to disagree with him,” and those disagreements “don’t in any way diminish my support for him.”
Fetterman said he also supported Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the democratically elected leader of the State of Israel. He backed Netanyahu’s plans to address a joint session of Congress on July 24, noting that it was important for American politicians and the US public to hear from him.
“I think the Prime Minister has the right to have that opportunity,” he said.
“We just voted billions” in military aid for Israel, so “let hear” from the country’s leader, Fetterman said, adding that Congress had a responsibility to do so.
Fetterman questioned why some members of the House and Senate plan to boycott the event.
“I don’t understand how that does anything but to cheer Hamas on,” he said. Sometimes you’ll hear things you don’t agree with. I really don’t think you need to be that fragile or offended.”
Fetterman said he planned to attend, adding, “I hope everybody chooses to.”
He arrived in Israel amid a period of continuing tension between Israel and the Biden administration over practical differences regarding the handling of the war in Gaza, even though both governments agree that Hamas must not be allowed to remain in charge of the enclave.
These tensions are akin to the kind of conflict that would be found within a close family, Fetterman said. “But you are never going to forget that [Israel is] our dear ally and how much America does stand with Israel.”
Fetterman said he backed Netanyahu’s stance that the war can’t end until Hamas is ousted from Gaza.
“I could never support Israel being bullied into an artificial kind of permanent ceasefire against that kind of an enemy,” Fetterman stressed.
“There is a duty to help rebuild Gaza and to create a better quality of life for Palestinians. But it is naive to think that is ever possible” while Hamas is in the enclave, he stated.
Any money sent to Gaza for reconstruction would be funneled to Hamas so that it can rebuild its military strength, he said.
LOOKING TO the future, Fetterman said he supported a two-state resolution to the conflict but noted that in light of the Gaza war, he understood that it could not happen now.
It was appalling, he said, that European countries such as Ireland, Spain, and Norway unilaterally recognized Palestine as a state in the middle of the Gaza war.
“Why would you give Hamas that kind of a reward when you have Israeli citizens still being held hostage? And you’re in the middle of a war? What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
“I wish for peace. Nobody wishes that more than Israel and the citizens of Israel,” Fetterman said,
“If anyone thinks that Israel is part of a problem in the Middle East, you know, you’re getting it way, way wrong,” he added.
He wondered why there was not more of a “moral outrage” against Hamas for its brutality during its October 7 attack on Israel, when it killed over 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages, of whom 120 are still in Gaza.
Looking at his wrist, he said he was wearing a band in honor of the Hamas victims who were at the Nova Festival on October 7, explaining that he would keep it on until all the hostages had been returned.
The gratitude showered on him for his visit to Israel, Fetterman said, has been humbling.
“I am here to have conversations with people coming as a small voice and a small part of the situation,” he said. “I never thought that my voice would resonate. I just believed that from the beginning, I wanted to be at least one consistent voice with the kind of clarity that has always been part of my perspective. If it mattered, I’m still not sure how or why, but that’s why I wanted to come and visit.”