Israeli Settlers Killed His Constituent. Fetterman Is Sole Democrat Against Investigating Them.

Despite support from other Democrats, the Senate voted 51–47 against a resolution to force U.S. probes on killings of Americans in the West Bank.

By Matt Sledge, The Intercept

Every Democratic senator except Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman voted on Tuesday for a measure seeking to hold accountable Israeli soldiers and settlers who have killed U.S. citizens in the West Bank. The vote stood as a sign of how much the party’s position on Israel has shifted in the last two years.

Fetterman, who takes a hard pro-Israel line, was the lone holdout in his party, despite one of his constituents being the most recent Palestinian American killed in the West Bank by Israeli settlers.

Near unanimous Democratic support, however, was not enough to secure passage of the measure, with the Senate voting 51–47 against advancing the resolution. The measure would have required the State Department to report on whether it is investigating the killings of nine U.S. citizens by Israeli security forces or settlers since 2022.

Although the resolution was crafted to focus on victims most sympathetic to U.S. elected officials — American citizens slain at the hands of the right-wing Jewish settlement movement — it still drew nearly universal opposition from Senate Republicans. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only member of the GOP to vote in favor of it.

The most recent U.S. citizen killed by settlers in the West Bank was a 19-year-old from Philadelphia. Though local Pennsylvania officials called for an investigation, neither Fetterman nor his Republican counterpart from Pennsylvania, Sen. Dave McCormick, voted for the Senate measure.