California Governor Gavin Newsom said that he “long supported the state of Israel,” but that he thinks Israel will become an apartheid state if it annexes the West Bank under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's leadership, in an interview with Axios on Tuesday.
He then insisted that he doesn't think Israel is an apartheid state, but that Netanyahu's actions in the last couple of years are what worry him.
"My red flag is Bibi Netanyahu, period, full stop. And his opposition to the two-state solution," he said.
"How he is navigating his own domestic politics, as it relates to placating the far right, thus the annexation concerns, how he's influencing events that are now out of our control," he explained, adding that he is currently worried about the situation in southern Lebanon, in Gaza, and the implementation of the Board of Peace.
"And I say that as a guy who visited Bibi, right after October 7, because of the relationship that I have with the Jewish community here and with the people of Israel," he added, concluding by saying that he "long supported the State of Israel."
Newsom's latest comments about Israel
Newsom also commented about Israel in March during an interview for “Pod Save America,” where he also suggested that Israel’s alleged influence over the United States’ strikes in Iran was “pretty damn self-evident.”
“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,” Newsom said in the March interview, adding that “others are talking about it appropriately as sort of an apartheid state.”
Later that month, Newsom told Politico that he had meant to echo a New York Times column by Thomas Friedman, which warned that Israel could be heading toward apartheid in the future. Notably, he did not say that Israel's current conditions were similar to apartheid.
While not answering the question of whether he considers himself a Zionist, Newsom also emphasized that his objections are to the current Israeli government, not Israel as a state.
“I revere the state of Israel. I’m proud to support the state of Israel,” he said.
“I deeply, deeply oppose Bibi Netanyahu’s leadership, his opposition to the two-state solution, and deeply oppose how he is indulging the far-right as it relates to what’s going on in the West Bank.”
Grace Gilson/JTA and Philissa Cramer/JTA contributed to this report.