Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he has no plans to leave the Democratic Party, but he would be forced to if the party turns its back on U.S. support for Israel, The Hill reported.

"If our party ever becomes — and just makes it official — the anti-Israel party, that's when I would leave because that's been a moral clarity for me," he said Wednesday during an interview at the Hill Nation Summit in Washington, D.C.

Fetterman said he has a major "concern" over the trajectory of many Democrats, who have become increasingly critical of U.S. support for Israel amid growing pressure from the party's progressive base.

"My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn its back on Israel," he said.

Fetterman pointed to House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., supporting an amendment sponsored by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., that would have eliminated $3.3 billion in annual security assistance to Israel.

Although the amendment was defeated Wednesday, he said Clark's support reflected what he described as a broader trend within the Democratic Party.

"You look at the kinds of individuals that are winning our recent primaries," he said. "It's becoming more anti-, anti-Israel and hostile to people" who are pro-Israel.

He criticized fellow Democrats who "are trying to ingratiate ourselves with that segment of the base of our voters are intensely, intensely anti-Israel."

Fetterman acknowledged he has been approached by Republicans about leaving the party but declined to divulge "private conversations."

Fetterman said he was concerned about progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed's strong performance in polls in the Democrat U.S. Senate primary in Michigan. He warned Democrats would have to pour millions of additional dollars into the battleground state to remain competitive in November if El-Sayed is the nominee.

"Rogers just barely, barely lost in '24," Fetterman said, referring to former Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican candidate who narrowly lost the 2024 Michigan Senate race to Sen. Elissa Slotkin.

"If El-Sayed wins, then that puts Michigan much more in play for us and would require us to spend more money. What's defined El-Sayed is the more anti-Israel and hostile-to-Israel thing," Fetterman said.

He also criticized El-Sayed and other progressive candidates' comments expressing support for the "defund the police" movement, questioning whether Democrats truly learned the lessons of losing the 2024 presidential election.

"Now here's more Democrats to 'defund the police.' Here we are back to part of the worst impulses that we just can't resist," Fetterman said.

"We forgot the crazy things that we said and that cost us the election in 2024. Now we want to revisit that," he continued.

"If anything, they're coming back in the strongest kind of terms. Look at the people who are winning."

One such candidate is Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, a democratic socialist backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the Democrat primary for New York's 13th Congressional District. She previously deleted a social media account in which she called for abolishing police, borders, and prisons and claimed Israel does not exist.

Fetterman also criticized Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for championing Graham Platner in Maine's U.S. Senate race so forcefully and being reluctant to withdraw his support even after The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported in early June on troubling allegations regarding the candidate's past.

Platner ended his campaign after Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, alleged he sexually assaulted her in 2021.

"What was the appeal? Was it no record in public service? Was it the record of the Nazi ink? Was it the crazy things he said online?" Fetterman asked.

"What was the appeal, roughing up his ex-girlfriends? Why did you push these people? Why did you buy in and then plunge that most consequential Senate race now into chaos?"

Fetterman argued the implosion of Platner's campaign has made it "more difficult" to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins and win control of the Senate.