Fetterman says being ‘devoted to Israel’ is nearly ‘incompatible with being a proud Democrat’

During the conversation with Bari Weiss, he described the emotional toll of the October 7, 2023, massacre and how his support for Israel has put him increasingly at odds with parts of the Democratic base.

“My heart breaks for what the Jewish communities suffered, especially after 10/7. I’ve had the honor of meeting… former [hostages], people that were kept underground for 500 days. I mean, those are heroes. I’ve met with widows… raising eight children by their own. That’s a hero… So, for me, it’s heartbreaking. And that’s been what’s so difficult for me… being devoted to Israel [is] becoming increasingly incompatible with being a proud Democrat now too. And that’s put me at odds.”

Since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel, Fetterman has been one of the most visibly pro-Israel Democrats in Congress. He has covered a wall of his Senate office with posters of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas and refused to remove them even as online backlash mounted.

Fetterman has regularly met with freed hostages, families of those still missing, and widows of Israelis killed in the war, something he emphasized in his interview with Weiss. That personal exposure appears to have hardened his sense of moral clarity on the conflict: for him, the story begins with Hamas’ attack and the suffering of Israeli civilians, not with the political debates that have consumed his party since.

His grief and anger are not abstract. In publicly honoring former hostage Eli Sharabi, Fetterman has repeatedly highlighted the brutal endurance of Israelis held underground for well over a year.

Sharabi, whose wife and daughters were murdered on October 7 and who spent 491 days in captivity before his release in February 2025, has since published a memoir, Hostage, detailing his ordeal and his decision to “always choose life.”

When the last remaining living Israeli hostages were finally freed in a negotiated deal, Fetterman framed it as the end of a horrific chapter: “The nightmare finally ends. May the hostages have a full recovery, and may we never forget those who didn’t make it out alive.”

At the time of the hostage release, Fetterman publicly praised President Donald Trump for his role in negotiating the ceasefire that secured their freedom, writing on social media, The nightmare finally ends… Credit to @POTUS for a breakthrough ceasefire of this awful war.”

He followed that up with another message congratulating Trump on what he called a “historic peace plan” that releases all hostages and makes “enduring peace in the region” possible. He emphasized that while their “parties are different,” they share an “ironclad commitment to Israel and its people.”

In the interview with Weiss, he admitted that this stance has made Democratic identity more complicated for him. His “devotion to Israel,” he said, is starting to feel “incompatible with being a proud Democrat,” at least in the eyes of some on the left.

Fetterman has faced online backlash and protests aimed at his office for displaying hostage posters and supporting Israel’s military campaign, as well as criticism from progressive activists and commentators, who increasingly view unconditional support for Israel as at odds with the party’s human-rights rhetoric.

There is also a widening gap between Fetterman’s framing of the war, focused on Hamas’ atrocities and Israeli civilian suffering, and the messaging from parts of the Democratic base, which centers on Palestinian casualties and calls for more aggressive US pressure on Israel.

Fetterman’s willingness to defy fellow Democrats isn’t limited to foreign policy. In his conversation with Weiss, he also pushed back hard against California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who blasted Fetterman and several other Democratic senators for voting to end a federal government shutdown and fund operations through January.

Newsom called the deal “a betrayal of working Americans.”

Fetterman replied that he doesn’t “spend any time worrying about what Gov. Newsom thinks.”

He continued, “This was the right call, this is the battleground representative here. You can't troll your way to explain to two million Pennsylvanians that they can't count on their SNAP benefits. I refuse to play chicken for people.”

He noted that he’s repeatedly voted to end the shutdown over the past weeks and insisted he has “no regrets,” even as some in his party wanted to use the funding impasse as leverage. He also pointed out that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is facing his own backlash from the left, underscoring that appeasing activist segments of the base is getting harder, even for leadership.