"‘My Father Was in Hezbollah’: Democratic Senator Responds to NYT Reporter About Israel's War on Terror"

Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman pushed back against New York Times reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro in an interview released on Saturday, addressing questions about Israel's war on terror. 

Garcia-Navarro challenged Fetterman's strong support for Israel in light of the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, pressing him on his stance regarding Israel's mid-September operation targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Fetterman reaffirmed his support for the operation, stating he “absolutely” backs it, even after facing condemnation from the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh chapters of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which issued a joint statement against him in late September.

“They stated, ‘When our elected officials begin to condone civilian casualties, our collective moral compass is irreparably harmed,’” Garcia-Navarro said.

Fetterman responded, “It was aimed at Hezbollah members. No one uses pagers in that context unless they’re associated with Hezbollah.”