Newsom Compares Israel to “Apartheid State” as He Blasts War on Iran

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, has questioned U.S. military support for Israel and called it “sort of an apartheid state.” 

Pod Save America podcast host Jon Favreau interviewed Newsom Tuesday at an event promoting the governor’s memoir and asked him, “Do you think, looking down the road, that the United States should consider maybe, you know, rethinking our military support for Israel?”

In his response to the former Obama administration staffer, Newsom took his strongest stance on Israel to date. 

“It breaks my heart, because the current leadership is walking us down that path where I don’t think you have a choice about that consideration,” Newsom said. He criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and referred to the expansion of West Bank settlements having people “talking about it appropriately as sort of an apartheid state.” He went on to criticize Israel’s role in the current war on Iran.

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Tonight, at a book event in Los Angeles, Governor Gavin Newsom said that the United States is being pushed by Israel into a position where it may have to reconsider military support.

Newsom said that those who say Israel is an apartheid state are doing so “appropriately.”… pic.twitter.com/6UUBEH7hYD

— Yashar Ali ???? (@yashar) March 4, 2026

“We’re talking about regime change?” Newsom said. “For two years, they haven’t even been able to solve the Hamas question in Israel.”

Newsom has made no secret of his presidential ambitions, touring the country to increase his national profile. Less than two months ago, he went on conservative commentator Ben Shapiro’s podcast and refused to call Israel’s massacre of Gaza a genocide, saying he was “crystal clear on my love for Israel.”

Shapiro: "Democrats have now been dragged into the conversation about [genocide in Gaza]. What is your opinion of this?"

Newsom: "I don't share that opinion as it relates to genocide [in Gaza]. I do not agree with that notion. I'm also crystal clear on my love for Israel."

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— lindsay ????????️‍???? (@virtueemoir29) January 16, 2026

So what does Newsom actually believe? Does he genuinely believe that the U.S. needs to stop military support for Israel, or is he pandering to reach the voting majority, who, according to a recent Gallup poll, sympathize with Palestinians more than Israelis? With the presidential primaries only two years away, Newsom’s views will face plenty of challenges in what will probably be a crowded Democratic field.