Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gifted Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) a silver-plated pager, a reference to the coordinated attack Israel conducted against Hamas by booby-trapping pagers.
The covert operation in September, which caused thousands of pagers in the possession of Hezbollah fighters to explode, led to the deaths of 30 people and injured 3,400 others.
“This is a silver-plated beeper,” Netanyahu said on Wednesday upon gifting Fetterman the device. “The real beeper is like one-tenth the weight. It’s nothing, but it changes history.”
Fetterman, who was joined by his wife Giselle in his second meeting with Netanyahu in Israel since taking office, said he was a big fan of the covert operation.
“You know, when that story broke, I was like, ‘Oh, I love it. I love it,’” Fetterman told Netanyahu, according to the Times of Israel.
A month ago, Netanyahu gave President Donald Trump a gold-plated beeper.
In return, Fetterman gave Netanyahu a framed newspaper story from 1986 about a Philadelphia memorial dedicated to Netanyahu’s late brother Yonatan. Yonatan was killed during a July 4, 1976, Israeli military operation attempting to rescue 100 Jewish hostages being held by Ugandan terrorists.
Yonatan and three hostages were killed. Over one hundred hostages were saved.
Netanyahu’s meeting with Fetterman comes just days after Israel and Hamas’s two-month ceasefire ended. Israel launched an attack on Gaza, which killed over 400 people.
Fetterman has been a strong supporter of Israel since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict. The senator reaffirmed his support for Israel upon news of Israel breaking its ceasefire.
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“I unapologetically, 100% stand with Israel, and demand the release of all remaining hostages,” Fetterman posted on X on Monday. “Sending this from Israel.”
“The Prime Minister and his wife thanked Senator Fetterman and his wife for their consistent support of Israel since the outbreak of the war,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement.
