US Senator: ‘I love watching Israel kill Hamas leaders’

“Where does your trash outlet come from?” – Democratic senator blasts anti-Israel media outlets, expresses strong support for the killing of Hamas’ leadership.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

Sen. John Fetterman lashed out at reporters from two far-left news organizations on Capitol Hill, accusing the outlets of supporting Hamas and declaring his continued backing for Israel’s campaign against the terrorist organization’s leadership.

The confrontation began when Zeteo reporter Prem Thakker asked the Pennsylvania Democrat about a new poll showing substantially more Americans supported arresting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than opposed doing so.

Fetterman accused Zeteo of supporting Hamas and voiced support for the continued targeting of Hamas and Iranian leaders.

Drop Site News congressional correspondent Julian Andreone subsequently approached Fetterman and sought a response for his outlet’s audience.

“Now it is like a race between who is the more pro-Hamas: DropSite or Zeteo. So now I’ve got both,” Fetterman said.

The senator then turned toward Andreone’s camera and delivered a message aimed directly at the outlet’s readers and viewers.

“I want your viewers to see how much I love to watch Israel eliminating the Hamas leadership,” Fetterman said. “I know that that upsets a lot of your viewers and your founders. But I think it is a great thing.”

Andreone continued trying to question the senator, but Fetterman shifted the discussion toward Drop Site’s finances and its extensive reporting based on interviews with senior Hamas terrorists.

“I’m going to always back Israel,” Fetterman said. “The question is: where does your trash outlet come from and who is funding it?”

Drop Site identifies itself as a nonprofit, non-aligned investigative organization founded by journalists Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Grim and Nausicaa Renner. The organization is fiscally sponsored by the Social Security Works Education Fund, a tax-exempt nonprofit, and solicits contributions from readers and other donors.

The outlet says it concentrates on war and US foreign policy. It has frequently pushed the false claim that Israel committed genocide in the Gaza Strip and has included interviews with senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.

Scahill’s first major report for the organization included interviews in which Hamas officials discussed their rationale for the October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel and defended the operation.

Fetterman appeared to invoke those interviews during Wednesday’s confrontation.

“Your founders think it is appropriate to attack and kill Israeli civilians?” he said. “That should be the news overall.”

“I think the question is: why does Drop Site love Hamas and Iran and Hezbollah so much?” Fetterman said.

As the exchange ended, the senator reiterated his support for Israeli operations targeting the terrorist organization’s senior figures.

“I love killing Hamas leadership,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman’s criticism also extended to Zeteo, an independent media company founded by former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan. Zeteo describes itself as a source of independent and “unfiltered” journalism, while its reporting and commentary have frequently been highly critical of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and US military support for the Jewish state.

The question that triggered the confrontation concerned an Economist/YouGov survey conducted from July 25 through July 27. The poll found that 49% of Americans believed the US should arrest Netanyahu if he entered the country under the International Criminal Court’s warrant, while 27% opposed arresting him.

That represented a 22-point advantage for the pro-arrest position. Another 24% were uncertain.

The results divided sharply along party lines. Sixty-eight percent of Democrats supported arresting Netanyahu, compared with 24% of Republicans. The poll also found that 47% of Americans believed the Israeli leader was guilty of war crimes in Gaza, while 24% said he was not.

Netanyahu and the Israeli government have rejected the allegations, accusing the court of political bias and arguing that it lacks legitimate jurisdiction over Israel, which is not a member of the ICC. Israel has also said the charges disregard the circumstances of the war launched by Hamas’ October 7 assault.

The US is likewise not a member of the ICC and is not legally obligated under the court’s founding treaty to enforce its warrants.