Newsom suggests Israel is an 'apartheid state,' Netanyahu influenced Trump's actions in Iran
While speaking at an event for his "Young Man in a Hurry" book tour Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom suggested Israel is an "apartheid state" and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu influenced President Donald Trump’s decision to strike Iran.
Newsom told the event's moderators — "Pod Save America" co-hosts Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor — it was appropriate to classify Israel as an apartheid state.
"A lot of Democrats have looked at the Netanyahu regime and felt like, ‘You know what? We don’t like the trajectory he’s on. It’s time to rethink the U.S. relationship with Israel, especially military support.’ Where do you stand?" Vietor asked Newsom.
"Let’s talk about that. But the issue of Bibi is interesting because he’s got his own domestic issues. 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, the hard line, that [want to] annex the West Bank. I mean, [Tom] Freidman and others are talking about it appropriately — sort of an apartheid state," the governor replied.
According to Newsom, Israel's leaders "haven’t even been able to solve the Hamas question" over the last two years, questioning how they would successfully pull off "regime change" in Iran.
"I want to be careful here, but, you know, in so many ways, that influence in the context of the conversation of where Trump ultimately landed on this is pretty damn self-evident," he claimed.
Referencing Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent remarks explaining why the Trump administration decided to strike Iran, Newsom continued to make the case that Israel played a part in that decision.
"And so Rubio may have been saying something else in the context of what he ultimately said, in terms of being sort of pulled into some of these things. But I will say this, [it] didn’t surprise me in this context," he told the moderators.
"I don’t know if it was Napoleon or whoever said — about a sword — the only thing you can’t use a sword for is sitting on it. And when you bring two aircraft carriers out there, and you assemble the kind of military force that Trump did over the last few weeks, it didn’t surprise me ultimately that they moved [in] that direction."
Following Newsom's response, Vietor asked whether, down the road, the U.S. should consider "rethinking" its military support for 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," the governor responded.
"I mean, to say this is in America’s interest, at a time when affordability is at crisis levels, where you had an administration who literally got elected saying this is exactly the opposite of what they would ever consider doing, the fact that we are in this now regional war, all these proxies, the fact that we — and you know, all the grift and the corruption that also marks a huge part of this," Newsom added.
"And that’s a real conversation we need to have, this Board of Peace, and the piece that the Witkoff family’s getting, and the piece that Kushner is getting, and the piece that Trump Jr. is getting," he added.
The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
NETANYAHU INSISTS US AND ISRAEL'S STRIKES ON IRAN WON'T LEAD TO 'ENDLESS WAR'
While speaking to reporters on Monday, Rubio explained the Trump administration's decision to strike Iran.
"We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action," Rubio said. "We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces. And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them … we would suffer higher casualties."
He emphasized Tuesday that the decision ultimately rested with President Trump.
"The president determined we were not going to get hit first," Rubio said. "If you tell the president of the United States that if we don’t go first, we’re going to have more people killed and more people injured, the president is going to go first."
Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.