John Fetterman meets Netanyahu in Israel to show support for the war
DANIELLE KURTZLEBEN, HOST:
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was elected in 2022 with an image as a brash, unapologetic, progressive Democrat. Now he's unapologetic about breaking with many progressive Democrats in supporting Israel's war in Gaza. He showed that support this week in Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Fetterman also sat down with NPR's Daniel Estrin in Jerusalem. Hi, Daniel.
DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE: Hi, Danielle.
KURTZLEBEN: So with this trip, what was Senator Fetterman hoping to achieve?
ESTRIN: Well, it was an official trip sponsored by the Senate's banking committee, but really, he was in Israel to familiarize himself with a country that he had never visited before in his life, but that he's been so strongly supporting ever since Hamas' attack on Israel, October 7. You know, back home, he has been used to a lot of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting him outside his house, outside his offices, for his politics on Israel, but in Jerusalem, his aide told me that many American citizens actually recognized him and embraced him. You know, he is hard to miss - he's 6'8. He wears that signature sweatshirt to his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu's office released a video of part of that meeting, and here's what Netanyahu told the senator.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: I want to thank you for your courageous statements that show moral clarity and moral courage, and you just say it the way it is.
ESTRIN: Netanyahu praised the senator for what he did earlier this year, when pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside his house. He actually went on the roof with an Israeli flag and just held it up.
KURTZLEBEN: Right, and this visit comes at a time when support for Israel is increasingly controversial among Democrats in the U.S., and the issue of Israel is really shaping a lot of young voters' politics in particular right now. I'm wondering - what did Fetterman say his message to them is?
ESTRIN: I asked him what his message is to progressive voters, who have been protesting outside his offices over his politics on Israel's offensive in Gaza. Here's what he said.
JOHN FETTERMAN: I'm not going to pander to them. I'm not going to lie to them. I'm going to let them know exactly how I feel about the situation.
ESTRIN: I think they want to hear from you empathy for what they feel, what they see in Gaza.
FETTERMAN: I - absolutely. There is empathy on that. There's absolutely empathy. I've been very clear, and I say that I don't assign a higher value on my children's life than I would for any Palestinian children in the middle of this, or Israeli children, as well, too. I think the difference is that your anger and your frustration should be directed at Hamas.
ESTRIN: Danielle, I also asked him about progressive voters and what they will do in the presidential election - this was before the CNN presidential debate, that we met - and Senator Fetterman told me that progressives who refuse to vote for Biden over his handling of the war in Gaza could simply cost Democrats the election.
FETTERMAN: If that's your vote, that's your vote. I hope you wouldn't throw it away or vote for some random third-party person or sit it out, because de facto, you're supporting Trump with that situation, and if you're willing to play with that kind of fire, you really should be willing to own that if that's the way it goes.
KURTZLEBEN: Now, Netanyahu is set to deliver a joint address to Congress on July 24, and some of Fetterman's colleagues plan to boycott that event. How is that upcoming speech being viewed in Israel?
ESTRIN: You know, Danielle, a lot of Israelis do not like Netanyahu. His popularity rating has really dropped during the war, and a lot of Israelis see Netanyahu as just being a master player in American politics here. They think that he's going to use the speech in Congress to improve his standing at home, you know, getting standing ovations to show Israelis that he's admired in the U.S. I asked Fetterman about that. He said Congress cannot be played as suckers, and he also said that many of his fellow Democrats who do sit out the speech - he said that would be bad performance art.
KURTZLEBEN: NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, thank you for being here.
ESTRIN: You're welcome.
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