Fetterman warns he would leave Democratic Party if it turns back on Israel

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Maverick Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has said he has “no plans” to leave the Democratic Party, but he warned on Wednesday that if Democrats completely turn their backs on U.S. support for Israel, that would cross a red line that could push him out of the party.

“If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me,” he said during an interview at the Hill Nation Summit in Washington.

Fetterman said he “can’t understand why the Democratic Party” — which shares an array of values with Israel as an important democracy in the Middle East — would turn against a long-standing ally.

The Pennsylvania Democrat says he has a major “concern” over the trajectory of many Democrats who have become increasingly critical of U.S. aid for Israel amid growing pressure from the party’s progressive base.

“My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel,” he said.

Fetterman cited Democratic support for an amendment sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) to cut off $3.3 billion in annual security assistance to Israel and the success of progressive candidates who are harshly critical of Israel in Democratic primaries.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) and House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.), the No. 1 and No. 2 ranking House Democrats, split over Massie’s amendment, with Jeffries opposing it and Clark supporting it.

Fetterman said Clark’s support for the amendment reflects a trend in the broader party.

“You look at the kinds of individuals that are winning our recent primaries,” he said. “It’s becoming more anti-, anti-Israel and hostile to people” who are pro-Israel.

He criticized fellow Democrats who “are trying to ingratiate ourselves with that segment of the base of our voters are intensely, intensely anti-Israel.”

Fetterman acknowledged he has been approached by Republicans about leaving the Democratic Party but declined to divulge “private conversations.”

The senator expressed concern over progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s strong performance in polls in the Michigan Senate Democratic primary. He warned that Democrats will have to pour millions of additional dollars into the battleground state to be competitive in November if he is the nominee.

“Rogers just barely, barely lost in ’24,” Fetterman said, referring to former Rep. Mike Rogers (R), the Republican candidate who narrowly lost the 2024 Michigan Senate race.

“If El-Sayed wins, then that puts Michigan much more in play for us and would require us to spend more money. What’s defined El-Sayed is the more anti-Israel and hostile-to-Israel thing,” Fetterman said.

He also criticized El-Sayed and other progressive candidates’ past comments expressing support for the “defund the police” movement, questioning whether Democrats truly learned the lessons of losing the 2024 presidential election.

“Now here’s more Democrats to ‘defund the police.’ Here we are back to part of the worst impulses that we just can’t resist. We forgot the crazy things that we said, and that cost us the election in 2024. Now we want to revisit that — if anything they’re coming back in the strongest kind of terms. Look at the people who are winning,” he said.

Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist candidate backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), deleted a social media account in which she called for abolishing police, borders and prisons, and claimed Israel doesn’t exist. Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old activist, defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) in the Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District.

Fetterman also expressed frustration with fellow Democratic senators who backed progressive insurgent candidate Graham Platner in the critical Maine Senate race, despite the fact that he was not carefully vetted and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had intensively recruited Democratic Gov. Janet Mills to run for the Maine Senate seat.

Fetterman said he was “angry” that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) championed Platner so forcefully and was reluctant to withdraw his support even after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported in early June troubling allegations about the candidate’s past behavior.

“As a Democrat, I am angry at people like Bernie Sanders, that pushed that accused rapist. Why did so many people on that left embrace that accused rapist?” he said, referring to Platner.

“What was the appeal? Was it no record in public service? Was it the record of the Nazi ink? Was it the crazy things he said online? What was the appeal, roughing up his ex-girlfriends?” he asked.

“Why did you push these people? Why did you buy in and then plunge that most consequential Senate race now into chaos?” Fetterman fumed, arguing the implosion of Platner’s campaign has made it “more difficult” to beat Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and win control of the Senate.

Fetterman demanded to know why his Democratic colleagues haven’t apologized for backing Platner.

Platner ended his campaign after Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine woman, accused him of raping her in 2021.

“Did Van Hollen apologize to the victim? I don’t know, I didn’t see it. The same with Bernie,” Fetterman said, referring to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the group of Senate Democratic progressives who call themselves the “Fight Club,” and who initially backed Platner but then withdrew his support along with many other Democrats.

“Where’s the accountability?” Fetterman asked. “Imagine if I would have done that and pushed that kind of individual.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday dodged questions about whether she regretted backing Platner but made it clear that she called for him to end his campaign.

“I asked Platner to withdraw from the race. He has withdrawn. Now it’s time for us to get a candidate in Maine and to take back the majority here in the Senate,” she said.

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Adriano Espaillat

Bernie Sanders

Chuck Schumer

Hakeem Jeffries

Janet Mills

John Fetterman

Katherine Clark

Mike Rogers

Susan Collins

Thomas Massie

Zohran Mamdani

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