Senator John Fetterman (D-Penn.) will not attend the Democratic National Convention this week, but denied that his decision was due to disagreements with party colleagues over his stance on Israel.

The Pennsylvania senator stressed that the announcement had nothing to do with his pro-Israel stance, which had alienated him from some of his Democratic colleagues.

“I have three small children and they don’t go to school,” Fetterman explained in an interview with Free Press which was published on Sunday. “These are four days that I can spend with my children.”

The DNC begins on Monday and runs through August 22. Vice President Kamala Harris will be officially named her party’s presidential candidate on Thursday.

Fetterman is a pro-Israel activist and is at odds with many of his Democratic colleagues over the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this year, he provoked ceasefire activists by waving an Israeli flag and expressed his “deep disappointment” at President Joe Biden’s decision not to fire artillery shells and bombs in the event of an Israeli invasion of Rafah.

Fetterman said in his last remarks to the Free Press He said he was “frustrated” with the attitude of his Democratic colleagues towards the Middle East conflict.

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“I am frustrated with the way some of my members have handled the situation,” Fetterman noted in his comment on the Israel-Gaza conflict. “I disagree with many of their views, but whatever political decisions or political costs I have incurred in doing so, I don’t care.”

He added: “I have never regretted any of it.”