'No Conditions': Sen. John Fetterman Breaks With Joe Biden Over Israel Approach

WASHINGTON ― Democratic angst over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has grown steadily in recent weeks even before the death of seven aid workers killed by an Israeli air strike this week, in what could be a turning point in the U.S. approach to the conflict.

But Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) isn’t backing off his staunch support for Israel, which has drawn the ire of some progressives and won him applause in corners of the Republican Party, including one member of Donald Trump’s family.

On Thursday, after President Joe Biden appeared to threaten Israel with a change in U.S. policy if it doesn’t alter its tactics and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza, Fetterman rejected the idea of conditioning support for Israel, as some of his colleagues have been pressing for months.

“In this war against Hamas ― no conditions for Israel,” Fetterman wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The post was accompanied by a photo of a story from The New York Times summing up Biden’s “tense” phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he called the killing of aid workers earlier this week “unacceptable” and demanded Israel immediately implement “a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps” to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The hoodie-wearing Pennsylvania Democrat has been one of the most vocal defenders of Israel throughout its six-month military campaign in Gaza, which it launched in response to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. He’s steadfastly defended its right to go after Hamas, even as the civilian death toll has climbed into the thousands in Gaza, including in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. He wallpapered his office with posters of dozens of hostages Hamas took from Israel, waved an Israeli