U.S. Politics and Israel Policy

At a Tuesday stop on his 'Young Man in a Hurry' book tour, California Gov. Gavin Newsom told 'Pod Save America' hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor that it is appropriate to describe Israel as 'sort of an apartheid state,' citing New York Times columnist Tom Friedman and others, and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his domestic political troubles helped influence President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran. Newsom argued that Netanyahu is 'trying to stay out of jail,' faces hardliners who want to annex the West Bank, and has 'folks … talking about it appropriately — sort of an apartheid state,' while questioning how Israeli leaders who 'haven’t even been able to solve the Hamas question' could credibly pursue regime change in Iran. He said that when Trump deployed two aircraft carriers and a large regional force, it was 'pretty damn self-evident' where he would 'ultimately' land and suggested Rubio’s recent explanation of the strikes fit that pattern of Israeli influence. Asked if the U.S. should reconsider military support for Israel, Newsom replied that Israel’s current leadership is 'walking us down that path' and that it is getting hard to claim the war is in America’s interest amid a domestic affordability crisis and what he called grift surrounding Iran policy deals involving the Witkoff family, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr. The White House did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment, but the remarks are already reverberating online, where Israel policy and the Iran war have become central ideological fault lines inside the Democratic Party.