WASHINGTON — Sen. John Fetterman said he would leave the Democratic Party if it “officially” became the anti-Israel party.
For the first time this week, the Pennsylvania Democrat set a specific condition that would force him to leave his party. with his Democratic colleagues has deteriorated profoundly.
“If they put that on our platform — no aid to Israel and officially become the anti-Israel party, then yes, that’s a red line to me,” Fetterman told NBC News on Thursday. “As Democrats, we’ve always had to support Israel. It’s our special ally, you know? In the only democracy in the whole region, it’s Israel. So I’m always proud to stand with Israel.”
He added that it would be a problem for him “if the Democratic Party went on record saying, ‘Israel is the problem, Israel doesn’t deserve to exist, and I will never support aid, and I’m not going to call Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran terrorists, and they are the problem in the region.’ »
Notably, Fetterman did not say whether he would change his Republican Party affiliation — or whether he would become an independent and continue to caucus with Democrats, as Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema did before retiring in 2024.
American public sympathies have drifted away Israelis and more towards Palestinians during the war in the Gaza Strip, particularly among Democrats. On Wednesday, 103 House Democrats voted for an amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to cut U.S. aid to Israel. Republicans overwhelmingly opposed this measure.
“I have been frustrated by the way the Democratic Party continues to turn its back on Israel,” Fetterman said, noting that he would consider leaving the party if Democrats put “no aid for Israel” in the party’s “official platform.”
Fetterman, who was first elected to the Senate in 2022, has had some difficulty highly publicized ruptures with his party, particularly on Israel. He voted with the Republicans on other questionsas well as on government funding and certain nominees in President Donald Trump’s administration.
Fetterman’s approval ratings in Pennsylvania have fallen to 19% among Democrats, according to one report. Quinnipiac survey published Wednesday. This would make his job extremely difficult. win a Democratic primary if he chooses to run for reelection in 2028. His approval rating among Republicans was 77% in the poll, although it’s far from certain they would vote for him.
