Sen. John Fetterman will face at least one challenger in the 2028 Democratic primary, a Gaza-born “anti-Zionist” who, for the past three years, has been on a tirade against Israel, its people and U.S. officials who support providing aid to the country in its ongoing war against the terrorist group Hamas.
For Ahmed Moor, ending U.S. aid to Israel does not go far enough to punish those who prosecuted the war in the Gaza Strip after the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas in southern Israel.
He has called for war crimes tribunals and criminal charges targeting officials from the Biden and Trump administrations as well as Israeli officials and soldiers, citing tens of thousands of deaths in Gaza since the fighting began.
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Mr. Moor, who was born in Gaza and later lived and worked in Lebanon and Jordan, is now running in Pennsylvania to unseat Mr. Fetterman, the Democratic Party’s biggest advocate for Israel in the Senate.
Mr. Moor is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and counts himself among a growing number of far-left, DSA-backed, anti-Israel Democrats seeking to expand their numbers in Congress.
At least five DSA-backed Democrats who support cutting off aid to Israel won House seats.
Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan Democrat, also opposes all U.S. military aid to Israel.
The anti-Israel core in the Democratic caucus has expanded since the war in Gaza began. In July, more than half of House Democrats voted in favor of a measure to cut off aid to Israel.
Mr. Moor hopes to join them by defeating Mr. Fetterman in 2028 and to take the party’s anti-Israel policies even further.
“A few years ago my birthplace was turned to rubble in a genocide funded by our tax dollars, with the support of politicians on both sides of the aisle who can’t find money for healthcare, transit, or removing asbestos from our schools,” Mr. Moor said Monday in a message on his campaign website. “It’s clear the United States funds wars based on corruption and lies and has turned its back on its own people. We must make sure this never happens again. That’s why I’m running for U.S. Senate.”
Mr. Fetterman, 57, a moderate Democrat, has not revealed whether he plans to seek a second term.
His first term in the Senate has been marked by his unwavering support of Israel and providing U.S. military aid.
He has co-sponsored resolutions condemning the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and warned against growing antisemitism in America fueled from within his own party. Mr. Fetterman was the lone Democrat to vote down a measure that would have required the Trump administration to seek congressional authorization for further military action in Iran. He described his vote as “pro-no nuclear Iran.”
In July, he threatened to leave the Democratic Party if it incorporated “no aid for Israel” into its platform.
“I’ve been frustrated with the way the Democratic Party continues to turn its back on Israel,” Mr. Fetterman said on NBC News.
Jews make up about 3% of the electorate in Pennsylvania. The vast majority tend to vote for Democrats, but the 2026 election season showed Jewish support eroded if Democratic candidates were staunch critics of Israel.
A Politico analysis of the Senate race in Michigan after the Nov. 3 election found that Mr. El-Sayed ran well behind other Michigan Democrats in precincts with more Jewish voters.
When Mr. Moor announced his Senate campaign in Pennsylvania, he downplayed his opposition to Israel.
“I’m running to end the war in Iran and to promote the dignity agenda: free healthcare, free childcare, and affordable housing,” he said on social media. “I’m calling for accountability for genocide, for ICE and for corruption. And finally, for the protection of our civil liberties in America.”
The Democratic primary field could grow. On Tuesday, Rep. Madeleine Dean said she is considering challenging Mr. Fetterman, citing his health and his voting record.
Mr. Fetterman suffered a stroke while running for his first term and made a significant recovery but continues to suffer from an auditory processing disorder. Last year, he was hospitalized after a fall, and his doctors diagnosed ventricular fibrillation.
His office did not respond to an inquiry from The Washington Times.
Pennsylvania voters are already debating the two candidates on social media. Some Republicans are threatening to cross party lines in the primary to keep Mr. Fetterman on the November 2028 ballot. One voter on Facebook criticized Mr. Fetterman, who is not Jewish, for putting “his Jewish heritage” ahead of “the welfare of the people of Pennsylvania.”
Mr. Moor, 42, who spent his childhood and studied in Philadelphia before returning to the city after time abroad in the Middle East, said he joined the DSA after the Israel-Hamas war began.
Until he announced his Senate candidacy, his social media posts dating back to 2023 focused almost entirely on the Gaza war, stopping U.S. aid to Israel and punishing those who supported it.
In prior decades, he wrote about extending his birthplace “from the river to the sea,” ending Israel’s right to exist, and someday returning “home and to elect my government.”
Mr. Moor has attacked Democrats for backing Israel in the war, which began during the Biden administration. The U.S. has provided more than $22 billion in direct military aid to Israel since the war started.
In a Sept. 17 post, Mr. Moor told Mr. El-Sayed it was “wrong” to campaign in Michigan with former Vice President Kamala Harris, who joined Mr. El-Sayed at a campaign stop and roundtable discussion in Detroit on Sept. 22.
“The Biden administration facilitated the genocide in Palestine, and they broke U.S. law to do it,” he said. “Harris et al. should be investigated and held accountable.”
His anger toward Israel and those who support it runs deep. Mr. Moor calls for removing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and holding a war crimes trial, followed by isolating Israel with crippling sanctions similar to those imposed on South Africa for its apartheid policies.
Mr. Moor hosts the “Occupied Thoughts” podcast, produced by the Foundation for Middle East Peace. In a recent episode, his guests discussed strategies for ridding the U.S. of Zionist Jewish institutions.
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