As long as Senator Fetterman is on the scene, it is clear that bipartisan support for Israel still has a pulse

PHOTO: DIANA POPPER/ISRAEL MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

On an extensive tour of Israel to learn about the trauma inflicted by the country’s longest war, Senator John Fetterman demonstrated why he’s become an indispensable ally inside the Democratic Party

Five hours before our scheduled meeting with Senator John Fetterman at a hotel in Jerusalem, the city was roused from sleep by an air raid siren. A missile was on its way, fired by one of the many terrorist groups bent on disrupting Israeli life.

The Democratic senator from Pennsylvania was among those jarred awake by the sudden shrill wail. Not that he needed further convincing to support Israel’s right to defend itself — Fetterman has long been one of the most steadfast allies of the Jewish state in the halls of American power — but experiencing firsthand the menace that Israelis live with daily brought home the stakes of his convictions.

“As part of my visit [to Israel], I got a chance to visit the heroes in the Iron Dome,” he said later that day. “And then overnight… we were able to really connect what we were visiting earlier. That’s what keeps Israel safe. And that’s why I’m always incredibly supportive of all of that, and how disgusting it is that there are members of my party that even voted against those kinds of funding.”

Fetterman’s journey to Israel was not a political junket in the traditional sense. It had been organized and sponsored by Relief Resources, an organization at the vanguard of mental health awareness and education in the Jewish world, with 11 offices worldwide, including New York, London, and Jerusalem.

For Senator Fetterman, the cause was personal. After suffering a debilitating stroke, he had to relearn how to engage with the world. His speech remains labored, and in interviews — as in Senate hearings — he relies on a tablet that transcribes conversations for him in real time, to accommodate an auditory processing disorder. And yet, here he was, along with his wife Gisele, traveling across Israel with Relief Resources, eager to learn how Israeli society is grappling with the psychological toll of the October 7 massacre and the devastating war that followed.

Among the many people he met on this visit, one encounter stood out. After his meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Fetterman emerged carrying an unexpected token: a silver beeper, gifted to him in homage to the Mossad operation that had targeted Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. The senator was characteristically forthright about the symbolism.

“I’m gonna keep it some place special,” he said, his grin unmistakable. “I was very supportive of what they’ve done. Yesterday, actually, we toured the parts of Israel that they had to evacuate because Hezbollah was firing thousands and thousands of rockets at civilians. And finally, Israel had to confront that. And what they’ve done in terms of that kind of penetration with their intelligence… that’s going to be studied for decades. It was the ultimate in microtargeting.”

The senator related a bit of the left-wing pushback he’s gotten for praising the beeper attack. “I was giving an interview with the New York Times, and they kind of pushed me on it, asking, ‘You support that?’

“And I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, I love it! If someone there has a beeper, well, that means he’s a terrorist.’ ”

Druze Devastation

The silver beeper wasn’t the only symbol of appreciation shown by Israeli officials. In a rare gesture typically reserved for visiting heads of state, Fetterman and his delegation were flown on a Black Hawk helicopter to the Golan Heights, where he visited key sites overlooking Lebanon and Syria. At one of the stops, the UNDOF-controlled Quneitra Crossing into Syria, he bumped into a group of Israeli journalists who were touring the area with the IDF.

One reporter noted the senator’s reaction as he surveyed the scene. “He seemed to be in a state of disbelief, amazed by the resilience of a nation that  has sustained over a year of nearly daily rocket fire in the region.”

He would soon witness the consequences of that fire up close. The next stop was the Druze town of Majdal Shams, near the Lebanese border. There, on July 27, 2023, Hezbollah fired a Falaq-1 rocket with a 53-kilogram warhead from less than ten kilometers (six miles) away in South Lebanon, giving residents just seconds to flee for shelter.

The rocket struck a local soccer field and an adjacent playground, killing 12 children, making it the most fatal rocket attack sustained by Israel during the war.

Mayor Dolan Abu Saleh of Majdal Shams greeted the senator, along with grieving families, and led him to the site of the attack — much of the debris still intact as a grim reminder of the atrocity.

“There’s still deep emotional trauma here,” the mayor said. “Dozens of parents rushed to the field that day, some finding their children’s mangled bodies as emergency workers tended to the injured.” But amid the sorrow, he noted a rare point of light: “We lack the therapists needed to handle so many cases. But American Jews — especially the UJA-Federation of New York — stepped in. They have funded a range of mental health services that have helped tremendously. We’re deeply grateful.”

Overcome with emotion, Fetterman stood in silence for several moments at the memorial. When one parent quietly thanked him for being just the second US senator to visit the site, he responded, “I’m not here as a senator. I’m here as a parent. I have kids the same age as yours. I can’t imagine your pain.”

Another meaningful stop on his northern tour was the holy city of Tzfas, where he visited Beit Binyamin, a serene retreat center named in memory of Binyamin Airley, an American-born IDF soldier killed in action in November 2023. The center offers respite, healing, and support for bereaved families, displaced communities, and combat soldiers suffering from the psychological toll of war. There, too, Fetterman sat quietly, listening — absorbing not just stories of suffering, but the extraordinary resilience of a nation that has refused to break.

Selfies with the Senator

It wasn’t just the meetings with Israel’s political leaders or former hostages that defined Fetterman’s trip. His presence sparked a kind of rock-star reaction. He couldn’t walk far without being stopped — by yeshivah bochurim, tourists, and taxi drivers, each eager to share their appreciation. And of course, take a selfie.

One such encounter was captured in a now viral video in which he was approached by a fruit vendor who said, “You are a senator, right? Thank you so much for your support of my country — I very much appreciate it!”

The senator responded positively, leaning closer as the individual offered him a blessing, wishing him long life and good health. The crowd responded with an “Amen.”

Fetterman remarked with wonder, “This place is amazing!”

In a country where public figures often come and go with little fanfare, Fetterman’s unapologetic support for Israel has earned him a kind of folk hero status.

“It’s a joy,” Fetterman said, reflecting on the experience. “Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten is here. And just wandering through Jerusalem yesterday, and getting to walk on the beach in Tel Aviv…. We’ve traveled all across Israel, and it’s been a mix of the tragedy and the loss, but also just the miracle that is Israel, and this civilization in the middle of all of it. For me, it’s important for people to realize how remarkable Israel has become — and how they’re forced to constantly defend that way of life. That’s why Israel is an incredibly special ally.”

There were moments when Fetterman grew visibly emotional. He recounted meeting two widows — each left to raise eight children alone after their husbands were killed fighting for the IDF. He rejected the idea that his own stance amounted to courage.

“I push back on the word ‘courage,’ ” he said flatly. “Being a senator, that’s not courageous. I’m just doing a job. These are my values. This is what I happen to believe. Courage is raising eight children after your husband was taken, defending Israel in the face of Hezbollah or Hamas. That’s courage. Or choppering in and rescuing injured soldiers or children so they can play in the same sacred space where other children were murdered by a rocket. To me, that’s courage.”

Party Line

What’s perhaps most striking about Fetterman is that he appears to be the last US senator in his party standing for common sense. He doesn’t hesitate to criticize his fellow Democrats — and occasionally finds common cause with Donald Trump, whom he’s willing to praise when he agrees with him.

“I’ve been very disappointed my party has chosen to back away from supporting Israel,” Fetterman said. “And I’ve always refused to pander to other factions. I can’t explain why they do what they do. They have their reasons. But for me, I think it’s very important to lean in, not back away. It’s really clear — it’s a war against Iran. Stand with civilization. Stand with democracy. And especially after October 7, it has only strengthened my commitment to make sure Israel and the Jewish community — both here and in my nation — deserve to have at least one very, very committed voice in my party. And I decided I was going to be that one.”

He pointed to political consequences as well. “My party tried to pander, or to run between the raindrops. Well, now look what happened in Michigan. Michigan was a critical state for the election. They pandered, and we lost Michigan. And now Dearborn, with the largest percentage of Arab Americans, they delivered Dearborn to Trump!”

Fetterman was blunt in his defense of Israel’s conduct in war. “Israel doesn’t pay pensions to people who kill innocent civilians. Israel doesn’t target civilians. They’re forced to fight a war through civilians, and then there’s the media’s distortions and lies — that they’re trying to starve Palestinians. That’s absolutely not true. It’s been demonstrated they [Hamas] are stealing aid and turning it into a source of income for their organization. I take no pleasure in being estranged from my own party. But I think it’s appropriate to point out where they’ve lost their way.”

The senator made headlines recently when he became the only Democrat to join Republicans in condemning the International Criminal Court after it equated Israeli prime minister Netanyahu with Hamas leaders as “war criminals.” He said he was “disappointed” by this, and saw this as a grim marker of how anti-Semitism is creeping into mainstream institutions.

“The ICC has equated Hamas leadership with Israel,” he said. “That makes it possible now for IDF soldiers to be arrested in some of these other nations. How could I be the only Democrat voting for [condemning the ICC]? That’s part of the problem. But I am fully supportive of making a statement, and passing the appropriate legislation to deal with anti-Semitism. It’s a serious problem in my nation — especially after October 7.”

Fetterman had praise for former president Joe Biden, whom he described as “very committed to Israel.” But he wasn’t shy about pointing out where Biden was falling short.

“I did disagree with him at times — like on his withholding some of those key munitions,” he said. “I don’t agree with that. And I also acknowledged and supported that after President Trump reversed that, specifically the 2,000-pound bomb as well. Israel needs those kinds of tools. Those are what helped eliminate Hezbollah leadership. They’re not used to target civilians.”

The topic of civilian deaths in the current war gets the senator going. “Who really targets civilians? That’s the Iranian proxies. And you can witness that, as I did, at that soccer field [in Majdal Shams]. For Jewish Americans, of course Israel is very, very important to them. I’m not surprised if we’ve lost some of our voters. That seems pretty reasonable.”

Fetterman also addressed the recent case of activist Mahmoud Khalil, who took part in violent anti-Israel demonstrations at Columbia University and now faces possible deportation.

“Now you have that protester from Columbia,” he said, “and parts of my party are getting all preoccupied with it. For me, the courts will sort that out. I’m an absolutist when it comes to free speech — but that doesn’t mean you get to undermine my country. If you’re going to take a stand, if you’re going to pick a side, then why aren’t you standing up for the hostages? There are human beings still trapped in tunnels right now — right now as we’re talking — who’ve been there for more than 500 days. That individual gets three hot meals, a cot, a lawyer. Our courts will do their job. But those hostages? They get none of that. None of that. And that’s where I stand. That’s an easy choice.”

He was unsparing on the question of Iran. While much of his party pushes for diplomacy, Fetterman is clear-eyed in his view of the Iranian regime. “I’ve been very clear: I think we should waste what’s left of Iran’s nuclear facilities. Blow it up! I support that. I don’t think you can effectively negotiate with that regime. Partnering with Israel in that way? I think Israel has the capabilities and the resolve. Whatever tools they get from us, I fully support that.”

As long as Senator Fetterman is on the scene, it is clear that bipartisan support for Israel still has a pulse.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1055)