Fetterman says Van Hollen as leader would be ‘troubling’ due to hostility toward Israel

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) signaled on Saturday that if Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) were elected as majority leader, it could be the final nail in the coffin that would send him packing from the Democratic Party.Fetterman told Fox News’s Saturday in America that he would see Van Hollen, who is challenging Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for the leading role, as “troubling” if he became Senate majority leader, due to his previous hostility toward Israel.“It would be troubling if my caucus elects someone like Van Hollen, [who] has really made his name being very … hostile to Israel,” Fetterman said. “If you are going to be angry or hostile towards any countries in the region. Why not make that Iran or Hezbollah or Hamas as well too?” Fetterman has long said abandoning support for Israel would be a “red line” for him, and he alluded to the idea that Van Hollen being elected would cause him to leave the party. He has previously said he would remain in the party despite his frustrations over ideological shifts, but Van Hollen’s bid for leader may change Fetterman’s calculations.“Both in the House now [and] in the Senate now, their first instincts are to punish Israel and to withhold these kinds of aid,” Fetterman said of his party. “Why? Why isn’t your first instinct to say let’s hold Iran accountable?”Van Hollen has been a staunch critic of Israel, claiming the U.S. gives the Jewish state a “blank check” while it engages in heavy military operations in Gaza. He has also scrutinized the American Israel Public Affairs Committee for being neither pro-American nor pro-Israel.Fetterman also voiced his support for President Donald Trump’s direction to launch military operations against Iran, recognizing that it’s “terrible” that Americans are experiencing high gas prices but that the blame does not fall completely on the president.“You want to blame the Trump administration, but I continue to blame the Iranians as well,” Fetterman said. “They could find a way forward for peace, and I think it’s important to hold Iran accountable. It’s a political loser, absolutely. But I think things are bigger. You know, that’s country over party.”The sentiment puts Fetterman in opposition to Van Hollen on another front, as the majority leader hopeful has said he thinks Democrats need to be “firm” in their response to the war in Iran and not delay action until January. Van Hollen suggested when launching his campaign for leader that Democrats should cut funding for the Iran war when Congress votes on a new spending bill, either full-year appropriations or another short-term continuing resolution, to keep the government funded.CHRIS VAN HOLLEN LAUNCHES BID TO UNSEAT SCHUMER AS SENATE MAJORITY LEADERSeveral other Democratic senators, including Sens. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT), as well as Sen.-elect Abdul el Sayed (D-MI), have said they would oppose Schumer and vote for Van Hollen.Senate Democratic leadership elections are expected to take place in early December and will be done by secret ballot, unlike the vote for speaker of the House, which is done by verbal roll call.