COMMENTARY MAG
Newsom’s Bright Idea: Defund Allies in Wartime
Seth Mandel
March 4, 2026
It’s not easy being Gavin Newsom. Every morning the California governor has to wake up and figure out who progressive voters want him to pretend to be. Today they want him to be more of an anti-Israel zealot. So he learned his lines and went on Pod Save America, the Israel-obsessed podcast hosted by former Obama advisers. But Newsom, with his impeccable timing, picked a moment when his performative sneering at our allies would be most insulting to America and the men and women in uniform. “Do you think, looking down the road,” Pod host Jon Favreau asked Newsom, “that the United States should consider maybe, you know, rethinking our military support for Israel?” To which the governor responded: “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 about that consideration.” READ MORE
TIMES OF ISRAEL Gavin Newsom declares he never has and ‘never will’ accept AIPAC funding Remark by California governor, who is widely expected to run for US president in 2028, signals opposition to the pro-Israel lobby group is increasingly become a litmus test for Democrats
JEWISH INSIDER Senate defeats resolution to halt Iran war, largely along party lines The vote showcased how the Iran war has quickly become a partisan issue, despite lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressing long-standing concerns about the threat from Iran. With the U.S.-Israel operation against Iran widening, the Senate voted 53-47 on Wednesday afternoon — largely along party lines — to block a procedural vote on a war powers resolution that would have forced the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces from combat with Iran. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and John Fetterman (D-PA) broke with their respective parties as expected, with Paul voting for and Fetterman voting against the motion, with all other lawmakers voting along party lines.
POLITICO Ties to Israel plague Democrats in top primaries post-Gaza Israel, after a long, devastating war in Gaza, has become so unpopular among many voters in the Democratic base that major candidates in top primaries are using even small connections to the country’s political leaders to hit their opponents. One Illinois Democratic operative involved in this year’s primaries has dredged up a 2019 trip that Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Juliana Stratton took to Israel to meet with the then-leader of the Israeli opposition Tzipi Livni…A Gallup poll released Friday found that around two-thirds of Democrats sympathize more with the Palestinians with only around 20 percent saying they are aligned with Israelis, down from half of Democrats being pro-Israel in 2016.
ArchitectGuy on Israel 