Peter Durant

Quotes

Durant, a Spencer Republican, said the trip helped give him a new perspective on the “scope of the terrorism that’s taken place from Hamas.”

“It’s not that I was anti-Israel or skeptical [before]; they were doing the right thing,” he said of Israeli officials. “But you see a lot of white-washing going on. Israel is losing the PR war. When you hear these personal stories [from Oct. 7] . . . this was an attack that was vicious, it was purely based on terror.”

Durant also echoed a line he said he heard from Israeli leaders about accusations they’ve committed genocide.

“If they’re committing genocide, they’re really bad at it,” he said. (Sep 26, 2025, Amid military escalation in Gaza, Mass. lawmakers traveled to Israel on trip funded by Israeli government, Boston Globe)