Sen. John Fetterman said he supports Israel’s recent pager attack on Hezbollah, adding that “if anything,” he loves it.
“I want to be very clear, I thought what Israel chose to do about blowing up the pagers and walkie talkies and after targeting and eliminating membership and leadership of Hezbollah, I absolutely support that,” Fetterman (D-Pa.) said. “In fact, if anything, I love it.”
Israel detonated Hezbollah walkie talkies and pagers last week in remote attacks that killed at least 32 people and injured more than 3,000. Hezbollah on Sunday launched dozens of rockets at an Israeli airbase. U.S. officials said the pager attacks were likely to escalate tensions — and could even cause an all-out war.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has been a strong critic of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s handling of the war in Gaza, recently said of the attacks on the Senate floor that Netanyahu was sabotaging a cease-fire deal with the pager attack.
“Every time a deal appears close Netanyahu moves the goalposts, introducing new demands and torpedoing the deal,” Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a clip played for Fetterman. “It is clear to me that Netanyahu is prolonging the war in order to cling to power.”
When asked if he agreed with anything the Vermont senator said in the clip, Fetterman said, “No, not at all.”
“Israel demonstrated that they will not allow terrorists not to be held accountable,” Fetterman said. “And I fully support that and it’s not about nothing like what my colleague has said.”
Fetterman, a strong pro-Israel Democrat, has been one of the most vocal Israel defenders since the attacks last Oct. 7. He has slammed ceasefire protesters and has split with factions from his party over the issue, often going viral for doing so. The stance has caused criticism from other Democrats — and has led to a departure of staff from his Senate office.
“I would be the last man standing to be absolutely there on the Israeli side on this with no conditions,” Fetterman once said in an interview with POLITICO. “Without destroying Hamas, there will be no enduring peace and a stable, two-state solution.”
