Fetterman says anti-Israel platform would be red line

Sen. John Fetterman said he would consider leaving the Democratic Party if it formally turned against Israel, naming a specific condition for breaking with a party where his stance has increasingly isolated him.

“If they put that in our platform — no aid for Israel, and officially become the anti-Israel party, then yeah, that’s a red line for me,” the Pennsylvania Democrat told NBC News on Thursday. “Democrats, we’ve always should support Israel. That’s our special ally, you know? In the only democracy in the entire region, that’s Israel. So I’m always proud to stand with Israel.”

Fetterman added that it would be a problem for him “if the Democratic Party officially says ‘Israel is the problem, Israel doesn’t deserve to exist, and I’m never going to support aid, and I’m not going to call out Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran as terrorists, and they are the problem in the region.’”

His comments came as Democratic divisions over Israel sharpened in Congress. On Wednesday, 103 House Democrats voted for an amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., to cut off U.S. aid to Israel. Republicans overwhelmingly opposed the measure, according to NBC News. The Guardian reported that the proposal was an unsuccessful bid to halt $3.3 billion in aid for Israel, most of it for the military.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat and longtime supporter of defense assistance for Israel, voted for the measure. “The American people are rightly demanding an end to a perpetual cycle of war, and the Netanyahu government cannot maintain its current course,” Pelosi said, adding that she voted yes “for the message that it sends.”

Fetterman has become one of Israel’s most prominent supporters among Senate Democrats as others in the party move away from traditional support for the country during the war in the Gaza Strip. The Guardian reported that some Democrats have backed away amid accusations that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government committed genocide in Gaza.

At an event organized by The Hill and NewsNation on Wednesday, Fetterman said his “long term concern” was that Democrats would “back away and turn their back to Israel.” Referring to recent primary victories by candidates who oppose aid to Israel, he said, “I’ve described that if our party ever becomes … the anti-Israel party, you know, that’s when I would leave.”

“That’s been a moral clarity for me,” he added.

Fetterman said Republicans have made some attempts to persuade him to switch parties, but he said he had no broader interest in doing so because he disagreed with most GOP policies. “I’ve been very clear. I am never changing my party, except for that one condition that we just discussed,” he said. “If I was going to, I would have already done that.”

NBC News reported that Fetterman did not say whether he would become a Republican or an independent if he left the Democratic Party. Former Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema became independents and continued to caucus with Democrats before retiring in 2024.

Fetterman, first elected to the Senate in 2022, has split with Democrats not only on Israel but also on government funding and some of President Donald Trump’s administration nominees. In April, a majority of Democratic senators voted for two measures by independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to block the sale of bombs and bulldozers to Israel. Fetterman opposed both.

His political standing inside his party has weakened. A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday put his approval rating among Pennsylvania Democrats at 19%, NBC News reported. His approval rating among Republicans was 77%, though the outlet noted it is unclear whether they would vote for him if he seeks re-election in 2028.