California’s Newsom Indicates Israel Is ‘Apartheid State’

California Gov. Gavin Newsom indicated Israel is an “apartheid state” and said the United States needs to reconsider its relationship with the Middle East nation.

During an interview promoting his new book in Los Angeles, Newsom responded to a question by “Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau about whether the U.S. should reconsider its military support of Israel.

“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 but that consideration,” Newsom said.

The U.S. launched a joint operation with Israel against Iran on Saturday, killing Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. About 100 hours into the operation, U.S. Central Command announced nearly 2,000 targets had already been struck in Iran.

The California governor, who is expected to be a Democratic candidate for president in 2028, was critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his interview, claiming “he’s trying to stay out of jail. He’s got an election coming up. He’s potentially on the ropes.”

Mentioning a “hardline” portion of Netanyahu’s coalition that wants to annex the West Bank, Newsom claimed that columnist Thomas Friedman “and others” are “talking about [Israel] appropriately, sort of an apartheid state.”

Netanyahu faces an ongoing trial over corruption charges.

Newsom also questioned the claim that the attack on Iran is “in America’s interests when affordability is at crisis levels, and where you had an administration [that] literally got elected saying this is exactly the opposite of what they would ever consider doing.”

The Trump administration announced that the president would hold a number of events and rallies in 2026 focused on the issue of affordability ahead of the midterm elections, but U.S. actions in Venezuela and now Iran have kept much of the news out of Washington centered on foreign policy.

Seated in the Oval Office Tuesday, President Donald Trump explained his reasoning for the preemptive attack on Iran, arguing that based on how “the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen.”

Trump repeatedly said Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and claimed Iran was actively working to rebuild its nuclear program following Operation Midnight Hammer in June, during which the U.S. struck Iran’s three key nuclear sites.

Following the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and its proxies have launched strikes on Israel, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. Six U.S. service members have been killed since the operation began.

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