Vermont progressive Senator warns Biden Israel-Gaza will be election issue: ‘Young people are just horrified’

Senator Peter Welch has a rare reputation on Capitol Hill. In the words of Senator John Fetterman, the Vermont junior Senator is the “nicest guy in Washington, DC.”

Along with the tattooed Pennsylvanian, Mr Welch also counts Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt among his dearest friends since he joined the upper chamber in 2023 after spending 16 years in the House of Representatives.

Now, the nicest guy in the nation’s capital is on a mission, one at odds with the leadership of his party: achieving a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Mr Welch spoke to The Independent on a day when the issue of the Israeli-Gaza war electrified DC, with Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the United States, delivering an impassioned speech simultaneously defending Israel's right to defend itself but also calling for new elections in Israel, a statement that sparked a backlash not just from Republicans but from one Democratic senator, John Fetterman; and as White House officials met with Muslim leaders in Chicago amid fears that US policy on the war could become a key issue in swing states like Michigan come November.

He said: “It’s a practical issue.”

“The only way we’re going to get [aid] in is to get peace, but we need a lot more cooperation from Israel,” the Vermont senator told The Independent, later noting that celebrity chef Jose Andrés’ nonprofit World Central Kitchen is sending more food to Palestinians than “just about anyone in here.”

When Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on 7 October, they killed at least 1,200 people and took more than 200 people hostage. Now, Israeli forces have descended on Gaza, killing at least 30,000 since October — including