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Sen. John Fetterman<\/span> has missed 30 floor votes this year. Back in his state of Pennsylvania, he\u2019s cancelled town halls and come under fire for failing to engage with his own constituents.<\/p>\n But in March, during a state work period in which senators typically engage with the people they represent, he instead went on an all-expenses-paid trip to Israel, thanks to the generosity of a New York City nonprofit focused on mental health in the international Jewish community.<\/p>\n Alongside his wife Gisele, Fetterman flew first class to Israel and stayed in five-star hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as part of a \u201cFact-Finding Mission,\u201d according to recent travel disclosure documents<\/a>. On the trip, the itinerary shows, he met with President Benjamin Netanyahu \u201cto discuss the current state of affairs in Israel and Israel\u2019s response to the mental health crisis following the October 7th terrorist attacks.\u201d During that meeting, Netanyahu gave Fetterman a silver beeper<\/a> to commemorate Israel\u2019s attack<\/a> in Lebanon \u2014 which the United Nations has called<\/a> a \u201cterrifying violation of international law.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Fetterman\u2019s three-day Israel trip, which cost over $36,000, was funded by Relief Resources, a New York City-based nonprofit that describes<\/a> itself as \u201cdedicated to supporting the international Jewish community in overcoming the broad range of conditions related to mental illness.\u201d While Fetterman has been under intense scrutiny<\/a> surrounding his mental health and ability to do his job, on the trip he was honored at a Jerusalem gala for his \u201cleadership in mental health awareness and legislative advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s taken two all-expenses-paid trips to Israel, but can\u2019t drive down the street and hold a town hall.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Since October 7, 2023, Fetterman has been an aggressive supporter of Israel, leading to mass staff resignations<\/a> and even prompting some of his donors to<\/a> ask<\/a> for their money back<\/a>. By March of this year, when he went to Israel, Fetterman hadn\u2019t appeared<\/a> at a public event in Pennsylvania for over two months.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere are 99 other senators who take trips to foreign countries but also show up in their state to do their job, and to vote and do their work,\u201d said one former staffer who spoke to The Intercept on conditions of anonymity out of fear of reprisal. \u201cHe\u2019s taken two all-expenses-paid trips to Israel, but can\u2019t drive down the street and hold a town hall. It\u2019s pretty crazy.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was the first time that Relief Resources had sponsored congressional travel, according to the documents. But it was not Fetterman\u2019s first visit to Israel. He went last June on a trip funded by the Senate Banking Committee which was focused on \u201cterror financing and combating illicit finance,\u201d according to Fetterman\u2019s website<\/a>. According to former staffers, this trip had been on the books for a while, after he made promises to pro-Israel groups<\/a> during his campaign. But his second trip in a year is more surprising and illustrates his absolute focus on Israel, former staffers say.<\/p>\n Fetterman\u2019s office and Relief Resources did not respond to multiple requests for comment.<\/p>\n This January, Rabbi Binyomin Babad, director of Relief Resources, wrote to Fetterman inviting him and Gisele on the mission to \u201cfocus on Israel\u2019s response to the mental health crisis following the October 7th terrorist attacks and the ensuing war.\u201d The delegation would also engage with \u201ctop Israeli policymakers and defense officials for a broader understanding of the national security challenges Israel faces.\u201d<\/p>\n The disclosure documents reveal that on the trip Fetterman had breakfast with lone soldiers from Pennsylvania \u2014 American citizens who enlisted with the Israeli military \u2014 and received a \u201csubstantive briefing\u201d from the Israel Defense Forces while on a helicopter ride from Tel Aviv to Mount Hermon. The documents did not specify whether Fetterman was flown to the southern slopes of the mountain, in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, or to the mountain\u2019s summit in southern Syria, which Israeli troops more recently occupied <\/a>when the Assad government fell in December of last year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fetterman was meant to go on a tour of three military installations, including a drone base and the \u201cDiamond\u201d unit headquarters, the IDF\u2019s highest combat engineering unit \u201cresponsible for tunnel detection and destruction in Gaza.\u201d However, they were all canceled \u201cdue to preparation for units to return to Gaza,\u201d as was a planned BBQ lunch at the Diamond unit HQ, according to a document outlining changes to the pre-approved itinerary. Fetterman also had a 90-minute meeting with Netanyahu, where he received the pager, and a separate meeting with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite reports that Fetterman\u2019s wife Gisele was previously upset<\/a> about his aggressive stance on Israel, particularly<\/a> the country\u2019s bombing of refugee camps in Gaza, she went along with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n