Overview
- Speaking March 3 at a live Pod Save America event in Los Angeles, Gavin Newsom said critics are "appropriately" describing Israel as an apartheid state.
- He said the United States may have to reconsider military support, arguing Israel’s current leadership is steering policy in a direction that makes such a review unavoidable.
- Newsom blamed Benjamin Netanyahu’s influence for helping push President Donald Trump toward strikes on Iran, a claim Netanyahu dismissed and Trump countered by saying he may have forced Israel’s hand.
- He cited pressure from Israeli hard‑liners and invoked Thomas Friedman’s warnings about annexation and a trajectory toward apartheid, questioning talk of regime change in Iran while Hamas remains unresolved.
- He alleged "grift and corruption" tied to postwar planning, naming the Board of Peace and associates including the Witkoff family, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump Jr., as scrutiny of his 2028 prospects and shifting Democratic views intensifies.