Chris Murphy is Joe Lieberman’s successor in the United States Senate.

That has to be one of the saddest sentences in the English language.

The ways in which Murphy is unlike his predecessor from Connecticut would require paper the length of a CVS receipt. But one key difference is that Lieberman was a principled public servant with a backbone. Unfortunately for the Jews of Connecticut, the slightest breeze can lift Murphy’s political positions and deposit them far from their point of origin.

That is what explains Murphy’s rather aggressive abandonment of Israel, which is the subject of a piece in Jewish Insider. Figures inside Connecticut’s Jewish-political world are troubled by Murphy’s post-Oct. 7 turn away from the U.S.-Israel relationship:

“The Connecticut senator voted twice in support of resolutions put forward by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) that would block certain arms sales to Israel. Following Israel’s strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Murphy slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for sending the Middle East into a ‘new, deadly conflict,’ arguing that the U.S. has ‘no obligation to follow Israel into a war we did not ask for and will make us less safe.’”

Murphy and his allies provide two “defenses” of the idea that he’s still a reliable supporter of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and neither is an actual defense. The first is from J Street’s state chairman, which itself is near the bottom of endorsements you want if you’re trying to convince people of your pro-Israel bona fides. Going to J Street for help here falls into the category of “break glass in case of emergency, and maybe don’t break glass at all.”

The second “defense” is from Murphy himself, who characterizes his support for Israel’s security post-Oct. 7 this way: “I have consistently supported sending Israel the military aid it needs to decimate Hamas’ military capabilities and eliminate Hamas leadership … those aims have been achieved.”

Forget what Israelis think; Murphy’s position is: War is over if you want it.

The Jews of Connecticut are frustrated because Murphy could show some solidarity very easily if he wanted to: “The pro-Israel marches that [Hartford activist Ari] Schaffer has organized since Oct. 7 have drawn several Connecticut lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. John Larson (D-CT). Despite regular invitations, Murphy has yet to attend one of the weekly pro-Israel events.”

The Murphy case is similar to that of Andy Kim in New Jersey. Kim replaced longtime Sen. Bob Menendez, who was convicted last year on federal corruption charges. Menendez was a staunch Israel supporter while in Congress, even challenging President Obama’s policies of appeasing Iran. Menendez’s fellow NJ senator, Cory Booker, let the Democratic Party’s left-wing drift carry him away from his previous staunch Israel support, so Menendez had earned a great deal of goodwill from the NJ Jewish community for standing firm.

His replacement, Andy Kim, folded more quickly than even Murphy did. His very first vote in the Senate was to tie Israel’s hands while the Jewish state was at war. It wasn’t so much a betrayal as a revelation of just how fast the Democratic Party’s left-wing transformation was moving.

Jewish leaders excoriated Kim too, but in both Connecticut and New Jersey they are facing an uphill battle. Some Jewish leaders were appalled, for example, when Murphy praised Zohran Mamdani, an anti-Zionist activist, after Mamdani won the Democratic primary for New York City mayor. But in fact Murphy and Kim are better indicators of the direction of the national Democratic Party than Mamdani is.

Murphy’s seat is safe. That wasn’t the case for Lieberman, who had to contend with challengers from his own party as well as from Republicans. But Murphy has the state party well and truly behind him and the state has moved out of reach for Republican Senate candidates for the time being. Murphy can do whatever he wants. What he wants to do, because it’s what the party’s activist base wants him to do, is slap Israel around. Murphy appears to be preparing to run for president in 2028 with the aim of getting himself a spot in the Cabinet if a Democrat wins in three years. Murphy, who would make an atrocious secretary of state, wants to be secretary of state.

So when one Connecticut rabbi says that Murphy’s praise for Mamdani is “so beyond the pale of what is just in the basic interests of many of his constituents,” that’s not how Murphy sees it. All politics is national to him, just as it is for an increasing portion of both national parties. Similarly, Andy Kim doesn’t see his job as responding to the needs of New Jerseyans. He and Murphy are social media senators. It’s a terrible trend not just for Jewish Americans but for all Americans.