California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he regrets comments earlier this month in which he appeared to signal that he agreed with claims that Israel is an “apartheid state.”
In an interview published Tuesday in Politico, Newsom said he had meant to echo a New York Times column by Thomas Friedman that warned that Israel could be heading toward apartheid in the future, not say that apartheid was the current condition in Israel. Israel and its supporters reject allegations that the country’s treatment of Palestinians amounts 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.”
The Politico interview come weeks after he ignited sharp alarm among Jewish groups in California and beyond with his initial comments, made on the podcast “Pod Save America.”
A number of Jewish leaders met with him immediately after the comments and came away convinced that he did not believe Israel was currently an apartheid state, J. Jewish News of Northern California reported at the time. But the Politico interview marked the first public clarification of his initial comments.
Newsom’s comments are being closely watched because he is seen as a likely 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, at a time when Democratic voters’ support for Israel has fallen sharply.
Newsom also recently emphasized that he had never and would never take money from AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby that now gives directly to candidates and has grown increasingly toxic among Democrats. (AIPAC has not historically gotten involved in state elections, and Newsom has run only in gubernatorial races since 2018.) The Politico interview did not ask Newsom about AIPAC.
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