Gavin Newsom has focused his criticism of Israel on the country’s prime minister [Getty]
California’s Democrat governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday compared Israel to an “apartheid state”, taking a shot at the country’s government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Newsom made the remarks at a promotional event for his new memoir in Los Angeles, where he was asked about whether the United States should rethink its military alliance with Israel.
“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,” Newsom said.
“To say this in America’s interest at a time when affordability is at crisis levels, where you have an administration that literally got elected saying this is exactly opposite of what they would ever consider doing, the fact that we are in this regional war [with] all these proxies, all the grift and the corruption that also marks a huge part of this, that’s a real conversation we need to have.”
Speaking further on Netanyahu, Newsom – who is widely tipped to be a potential candidate for the 2028 presidential elections – said he believed that Netanyahu’s latest attacks on Iran may be motivated by domestic issues in Israel.
“He’s trying to stay out of jail. He’s got an election coming up. He’s potentially on the ropes. He’s got folks on the hardline that want to annex the West Bank. [Thomas] Friedman and others are talking about it appropriately, [as] sort of an apartheid state,” Newsom said.
Newsom’s latest remarks appeared consistent with previous comments he made to pro-Israel media figure Ben Shapiro in January.
In their exchange, Newsom once again directed his criticism at Israel’s leader, saying that he was “crystal clear in my love for Israel, and my condemnation of Bibi, and there’s a distinction”.
“I have a lot of issues with the way Bibi ultimately conducted the war. I didn’t like the way he talked about the Palestinian people,” Newsom said.
As Israel wages war on Iran alongside the United States, polling has shown that Americans are seeing it in increasingly unfavourable terms.
In February, a Gallup poll showed that 41 percent of Americans now sympathise more with Palestinians, compared to 36 percent who expressed more sympathy for Israelis.
The trend is stronger among Democrats, with 65 percent expressing sympathy for Palestinians, and just 17 percent for Israelis.
Israel’s increasingly toxic brand has also seen many elected oficials and candidates for office – primarily Democrats – refuse direct funding from the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby group.
