Benjamin Netanyahu gives silver-plated beeper to John Fetterman, who praised Lebanon pager operation

The Pennsylvania senator gave Netanyahu a framed news article about an effort to memorialize Netanyahu’s brother, the fallen Israeli soldier Yoni Netanyahu, in Philadelphia — where Netanyahu lived as a teenager.

By Ben Sales, JTA

When Sen. John Fetterman said he loved the Israeli operation that sent exploding pagers to members of Hezbollah, he probably never expected that Israel would give him a beeper, too.

But that’s what happened this week, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Fetterman, an outspokenly pro-Israeli Democratic lawmaker, to his office in Jerusalem.

The beeper handover took place during an exchange of gifts. The Pennsylvania senator gave Netanyahu a framed news article about an effort to memorialize Netanyahu’s brother, the fallen Israeli soldier Yoni Netanyahu, in Philadelphia — where Netanyahu lived as a teenager.

Netanyahu’s gift was smaller — and didn’t explode.

“What can I give a man who has everything? How about giving him a beeper?” Netanyahu said, handing over a small silver box to Fetterman.

“This is a silver-plated beeper. The real beeper is, like, one-tenth the weight. It’s nothing, but it changes history.”

Fetterman responded, “When that story broke, I was like, ‘Oh, I love it, I love it.’ And now, it’s like, thank you for this.”

Pagers belonging to Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon in September, wounding and killing many, in addition to a number of civilians, in a long-planned Israeli operation.

The operation came 10 before Israel killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, in an airstrike and two weeks ahead of an Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon targeting Hezbollah. That conflict ended in a ceasefire in late November.

Fetterman has praised the beeper operation before, including in comments to a representative of the militant right-wing pro-Israel group Betar US.

And Netanyahu has gifted a pager to a U.S. official before. In a visit to the White House last month, he gave one to President Donald Trump. That one was plated with gold.