Fetterman warns Democrats must confront ‘rising antisemitism problem’ after clashes outside NYC synagogues

Fetterman warns Democrats must confront ‘rising antisemitism problem’ after clashes outside NYC synagogues

Fetterman called anti-Israel mobs clashing with police in NYC 'Pro-Hezbollah / Hamas s(—)heads' earlier in May

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Violent anti-Israel mob protests outside Brooklyn synagogue

Pro-Palestinian protesters in Brooklyn escalated tensions by hurling antisemitic slurs and clashing with police outside a synagogue on Monday. Video shows an anti-Israel rioter shoving a Jewish girl and an Israeli flag being burned. The incident highlights concerns about growing antisemitism in New York City, drawing criticism from hosts who note similar protests occurred at Columbia University.

Amid mobs clashing with police outside synagogues in New York City, and after a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice announced he would be abandoning the Democratic Party over its "acquiescence to Jew-hatred," Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., called out his party over its "antisemitism problem."

A Supreme Court justice in Pennsylvania, David Wecht, who began serving on the court in 2016 and was retained in a 2025 election, put out a statement Monday obtained by Fox News Digital indicating he would no longer affiliate himself with the Democratic Party as a result of "activists, leaders and even many elected officials in the Democratic Party" acquiescing to a rise in antisemitism on the left.

Fetterman subsequently posted on social media that, while he may not have plans to change parties himself, something he affirmed in an op-ed earlier in May, he understood Wecht's choice and added that "the Democratic Party must confront its own rising antisemitism problem."

FETTERMAN SAYS 'MORAL CLARITY' DRIVES HIS WIDENING BREAK WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY

In the past week, two mobs have clashed with police outside synagogues in New York City.

The latest incident took place Monday night when agitators — three of whom police said were arrested — swarmed an area near the Young Israel Senior Services of Midwood, which had been hosting an event advertising real estate in Israel, according to local media reports.

Hezbollah flags, chants of "Zionism will fall" and a banner bearing the red inverted triangle Hamas uses to designate Israeli targets were seen and heard at the Monday clash, according to the Combat Antisemitism Movement and videos shared on social media.

"Mob of Pro-Hezbollah / Hamas s(—)heads raging against law enforcement and terrorizing the NYC Jewish community near a synagogue and day care," Fetterman wrote in a Wednesday post on X following a clash earlier in May outside a separate NYC synagogue holding another Israeli real estate event. "Where’s my party’s condemnation?"

Pro-Palestinians gather at a 'Stop the Sale of Stolen Palestinian Land' protest against 'Great Israel Real Estate' event for Palestinian land sale at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 05, 2026, in New York City. The NYPD tightened security on E. 67th and E. 68th Streets and set up a perimeter that extended for blocks around the Park East Synagogue. (Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"There’s a synagogue here. This is clearly a Jewish neighborhood, and they deserve the right to worship in peace," a counterprotester at the anti-Israel clash in recent days in Brooklyn told Spectrum News New York.

In Wecht's statement about his plans to leave the Democratic Party, he said that while antisemitism has festered on the fringes of the right for a long time, "that same hatred has grown on the left," and blamed leaders in the party for failing to stamp it out.

Wecht did not necessarily provide any specific names, or instances, but he hinted at pro-Palestinian protests, mentioned "attacks at synagogues" and appeared to reference one of the party's burgeoning Democratic Party candidates in Maine, U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, who has been forced to explain a tattoo he has that resembles Nazi insignia.

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"From 1998 to 2001, years that preceded my judicial career, I served as Vice-Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. In the quarter century that has passed since then, the Democratic Party has changed. Nazi tattoos, jihadist chants, intimidation and attacks at synagogues, and other hateful anti-Jewish invective and actions are minimized, ignored, and even coddled. Acquiescence to Jew-hatred is now disturbingly common among activists, leaders and even many elected officials in the Democratic Party," he asserted in part of his statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

Judicial candidate David Wecht speaks at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Wyomissing Friday night on Oct. 23, 2015, for the 2015 Berks Democratic Committee dinner. (Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images)

After Wecht announced his plans to abandon the Democratic Party, Fetterman posted on social media that he "fully understand(s) David's personal choice."

"I know David and his legendary father, Cyril," Fetterman said in a post on X that included a screenshot of a headline about Wecht's decision to leave the Democratic Party. "As I’ve affirmed, I’m not changing my party—but I fully understand David’s personal choice. The Democratic Party must confront its own rising antisemitism problem."

Earlier in May, Fetterman penned and op-ed in The Washington Post saying "it has become increasingly lonely" for him in the Democratic Party.

Fetterman slammed the party's disdain for "once-common views," which he argued was the result of "catering to the fringe and agitated parts of our base."

"There's been a fracturing between me and my party… primarily it's been Israel," Fetterman said on "Life, Liberty & Levin" in April, noting that he was one of the few Democrats to support Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.–Israeli military campaign against Iran.

Pro-Palestinians gather at a 'Stop the Sale of Stolen Palestinian Land' protest against 'Great Israel Real Estate' event for Palestinian land sale at the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan on Tuesday, May 05, 2026, in New York City. The NYPD tightened security on E. 67th and E. 68th Streets and set up a perimeter that extended for blocks around the Park East Synagogue. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images))

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However, while Fetterman has publicly discussed his widening break with the Democratic Party, in his op-ed, Fetterman reassured skeptics that he did not have any plans to switch parties.

He wrote that while "being an independent voice" may put him at odds with much of the contemporary Democratic Party, he remains committed to it and wrote explicitly that he has "no plans to leave" the party.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) speaks to reporters before a Senate luncheon at the U.S. Capitol on December 12, 2023 in Washington, DC (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

"Plus, I’d be a terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats," Fetterman concluded in the May 7 editorial.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) for comment on Fetterman's remarks.

Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

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