John Fetterman receives ‘Defender of Israel’ award from pro-Israel group that honored Trump

Sen. John Fetterman (D., Pa.) is accepting a “Defender of Israel” award from the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) on Wednesday.

Fetterman, a Democrat, has been an unconditional supporter of Israel since Hamas’ attack on the country on Oct. 7, a position that has put him at odds with progressive members of his party who have been critical of Israel’s military response.

An invitation for the event calls Fetterman “a visible and outspoken supporter of Israel” and praised him for visiting the country.

The award is being presented to Fetterman at the group’s Night of Appreciation in Philadelphia on Wednesday evening. Fetterman will accept the award remotely through video due to a scheduling conflict, according to the group.

ZOA advocates for Israel and opposes a Palestinian state under the belief that it would endanger Israel’s existence. The annual award goes to people the group sees as helping strengthen the relationship between the United States and Israel.

The group honored former President Donald Trump with a different award in 2022.

The organization, founded in 1897, has been in turmoil for years, and two members of its board recently asked a judge to remove longtime leader President Morton Klein due to alleged financial misconduct and poor leadership, The Forward reported. Multiple leaders of the group have turned on Klein, and the group has shrunk significantly over the past two decades with a “brief resurgence during the Trump administration,” according to the report. A former executive director of the group sued Klein in 2022 alleging racist and sexist behavior, according to The Forward.

Klein drew public backlash in 2018 for calling a Palestinian who killed an Israeli American a “filthy Arab.” He apologized at the time by saying he was referring to “Arab murders” specifically, not all Arabs, but did not take back the charged slur.

In 2016, he voiced support for Trump’s proposal to profile Muslims in America and, in a 2022 New Yorker interview, he defended Trump for promoting the birther conspiracy about former President Barack Obama though he later said he believes Obama was born in the U.S.

Fetterman and Klein were unlikely allies before the start of the Israel-Hamas war when Fetterman garnered a reputation for trolling Republicans like Trump. But in the months since, as protests have erupted across the country over the Palestinian death toll, Fetterman has became known for picking fights with members of his own party over the issue.

Even Gov. Josh Shapiro, an outspoken supporter of Israel, has publicly denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Fetterman, who is not Jewish, visited Israel for the first time in June. He met with Israel President Isaac Herzog and Netanyahu, who said “Israel has had no better friend than Sen. John Fetterman.”

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Fetterman was also honored for his support of Israel in May at the commencement ceremony for Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish school in New York City. His award, the Presidential Medallion, was given to Daniel Gold, the inventor of Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, last year. He was lauded as a “hero of Israel.”