He's definitely a foreign asset. Idk if I'd call him intelligent.
Really need to read up on one of Fetterman's staffers - David “Dovi” Safier - perhaps via The Man Who Explains Israel to John Fetterman (archive.is)
In September 2025, Fetterman and some of his senior staffers gathered at the senator’s office for a meeting with Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States. According to one of the staffers in attendance, Safier was inexplicably in the room, too. It was far from a public event. During the meeting, Fetterman tested out a proposal to force every senator to vote on whether they think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. (Leiter and Safier did not consider this a good idea; Fetterman eventually backed off.) Throughout, the two politicians gossiped freely. According to the same staffer, Leiter told Fetterman that he had prodded Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — despite his fervent support for the state — to be even more helpful to Israel, asking the Jewish politician if he puts blood in his matzo. Fetterman chuckled, the person in attendance said, not “picking up on the gravity of the insult.” (The Israeli Embassy denies the comment. “Ambassador Leiter said to Senator Schumer — as he’s said to other senators and congressmen — that the accusation of starvation in Gaza is no different than medieval blood libels,” the embassy said in a comment.)
In conversations with 11 current and former staffers for Fetterman — all of whom requested varying levels of anonymity to speak freely about sensitive matters — a strange picture emerges. The senator has isolated himself from many of his Senate colleagues and members of his own party. There are few who Fetterman seems to trust beyond his dad and brother, who are conservative; Bobby Maggio, his 2022 campaign manager; and now Safier, who has become arguably the senator’s closest confidant. Fetterman’s dwindling inner circle has, by default, given Safier an unusually large influence. When he is on Capitol Hill, Safier will “hang out and sit in Fetterman’s office all day or walk with him to the floor,” a former staffer says. After their conversations, Fetterman would appear “far more radicalized,” the former staffer remembers. The chatter around the office is usually: “Oh God, Safier is here, and now John’s not gonna go to any of his meetings.”
Multiple staffers recall hearing about calls between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Fetterman that Safier listened in on. As Safier’s influence has grown, the senator’s calls with Netanyahu have increased. On the calls, it is either Fetterman alone talking with the foreign leader or just the senator, Safier, and Netanyahu. (Netanyahu’s foreign-press spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.) Safier “would always stick around” when Fetterman chatted with “important dignitaries” from other countries, another former staffer says. Recently, Safier was in attendance for a meeting with the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United States, according to multiple people with direct knowledge. (The UAE Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.)