Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., blasted pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a cease-fire during a press conference with the families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas on Wednesday.
He made the comments alongside a bipartisan group of both House and Senate lawmakers, as well as the speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Amir Ohana.
“I think I’ve met with six, six family victim groups during all of this. And, you know, that should have stopped because everyone should have been home long ago,” Fetterman said.
“And I don’t understand why, to anyone that is protesting or demanding for a cease-fire, let’s be honest here, why aren’t you protesting to bring them all home right now? Why aren’t you demanding that Hamas surrenders as well?”
Fetterman said he supported an end to “suffering and the death of innocent Palestinians and Israelis” but argued peace would not be possible with the continued existence of Hamas, which invaded Israel and slaughtered over 1,200 people on Oct. 7.
“I support a two-state solution as well. But that is meaningless until Hamas is effectively eliminated,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said.
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Fetterman has emerged as one of Israel’s most vocal backers among Senate Democrats and has been known to put on public displays rebuffing pro-Palestine protesters, including ones who showed up to his house recently.
He blasted those making an “equivalence” between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday.
“Hamas now disavows and rejects a two-state solution as well, too, and now they are committed to the destruction of Israel,” Fetterman said. “I would never want to negotiate with a group that [is] committed to my death as well.”
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“Bring all of these people back home now…and stop pretending this is some kind of equivalence here.”
It comes just as the Senate is expected to vote on a security aid package giving dollars to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. A similar measure, which took months of negotiation to include conservative border policy changes, is expected to fail in the Senate on Wednesday afternoon amid fierce GOP opposition.
