Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman on the fifth anniversary of the massacre at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2023. Photo by Justin Merriman/Getty Images

By Jacob Kornbluh December 1, 2023

Concerned about the backlash Sen. John Fetterman faces for his strong support of Israel since Oct. 7, a group of Jewish Pennsylvanians has launched a billboard campaign to express their appreciation for the Democratic senator.

“Thank you, Senator Fetterman,” read the large signs in blue alongside a picture of Fetterman, wearing his trademark hoodie, in at least five locations in and near Allegheny County, where he makes his home and which includes Pittsburgh. 

The same message will be delivered on LED trucks that will be driven around Midtown Manhattan this weekend as Pennsylvania politicians and business leaders gather in New York City for the annual Pennsylvania Society retreat. 

Organizers of the group of about a dozen donors, who together contributed “thousands” of dollars, said the initiative expresses deep gratitude within the Jewish community for Fetterman’s support of Israel and the campaign to free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. The billboards, which went up before Thanksgiving, will come down in the coming week.

Ari Mittleman, a D.C.-based strategist and political consultant, said he spearheaded the effort because Fetterman continues to stand up for Israel as heat from Democrats on the left intensifies. “The two most least spoken words in Washington are ‘Thank you,” he said. 

The Jewish community, he added, also grapples with anger toward Israel, in “emotional conversations around Shabbos tables and in sleepless night phone calls.”

Images of Fetterman expressing his support for Israel have circulated widely in the weeks since Oct. 7, when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took 240 hostage, prompting a war against Hamas in Gaza which, according to the Hamas-run health ministry there, Israel has killed more than 14,000 Palestinians.

After meeting with survivors of the Oct. 7 attack and families of the hostages, Fetterman plastered his Senate office wall with images of the hostages. Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania senator, waved an Israeli flag as he passed by a group of protesters outside the U.S. Capitol calling for a cease-fire. At the Nov. 14 rally in support of Israel on the National Mall, Fetterman draped himself in an Israeli flag as he posed for photos with rally-goers. “Of course I’m here,” Fetterman told one. “How could I not!”

Fetterman, whose stances on LGBTQ rights, immigration, gun control and other issues has endeared him to left-leaning Democrats, has draw the ire of progressive allies and former campaign staffers for his stance on Israel. “You can’t be a champion of forgotten communities if you cheerlead this war and the consequent destruction of Palestinian communities at home and abroad,” a group of 16 former campaign staffers wrote in an open letter to Fetterman last month.

Julie Paris, a Jewish leader in Pittsburgh, said supporters of Israel have also been thanking him in letters, cards made by their children and sweets sent to his office. “I just feel blessed” to be his constituent, she said. 

Paris, who is also the regional director of StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy group, said her conversations with Fetterman during his campaign gave her confidence in his commitment to Israel, but that he has surpassed her expectations.

“I didn’t know how great he would be,” she said. 

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