Democrats’ Break With Israel Deepens as Newsom Likens Israel to an ‘Apartheid State,’ Questions Military Support

Governor Gavin Newsom, redefining the Democratic Party’s commitment to Israel ahead of the midterm elections, has called the Jewish state an “apartheid state” and questioned American military support for the country.Mr. Newsom shared his positions on Israel while promoting his new memoir on a progressive political podcast, Pod Save America, hosted by former staffers to President Obama. When asked by host Jon Favreau whether America should consider “rethinking our military support for Israel,” Mr. Newsom replied: “It breaks my heart, because the current leadership in Israel is walking us down that path where I don’t think you have a choice about that consideration.”Mr. Newsom criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu by name, repeating his objections to the Israeli leader’s alliances with figures on the right who seek to annex the West Bank. He suggested it was “appropriate” for critics to describe Israel as “sort of an apartheid state.”A former American ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, pushed back on X, writing that “I would never support an apartheid state” and urging Mr. Newsom to read his book, “One Jewish State.” Mr. Newsom’s skepticism of Israel builds on remarks he made earlier this week about the conflict in Iran. Criticizing President Trump’s strike on the Islamic Republic, he said Monday that “We have to reconcile why our bombs were used or Israeli bombs were used to kill children, young girls, at a school and what the imminent threat was.”Iranian state media reported Saturday that some 170 people, including more than 100 children, were killed in a strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran. The claim was quickly picked up by mainstream outlets, though Iran has not permitted foreign journalists to independently verify details of the strike, and responsibility has not been definitively established.Mr. Newsom also declared Monday that he has never “and never will” accept money from the pro-Israel lobbying group, AIPAC. Disavowing the organization has become an increasingly common move among politicians courting a Democratic voter base that has grown skeptical of Israel and its alliance with America.That dynamic was on display Tuesday when the former New York City comptroller, Brad Lander, who is running in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District, urged supporters to help him unseat incumbent Representative Dan Goldman, whom he described as “an AIPAC-backed quarter-billionaire who bought this seat.”

Democrats’ Break With Israel Deepens as Newsom Likens Israel to an ‘Apartheid State,’ Questions Military Support

Democrats’ Break With Israel Deepens as Newsom Likens Israel to an ‘Apartheid State,’ Questions Military Support

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