Pete Buttigieg Faces Tough Questioning On Israel From Pod Save America Host In Preview of Dems’ Messaging on the Issue

Former presidential candidate and member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet, Pete Buttigieg, was asked by Pod Save America’s Jon Favreau some tough questions on Sunday surrounding the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Pod Save America made headlines in recent days as its hosts called for the U.S. to cut off all aid to Israel and accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza. Slate’s Luke Winkie praised the comments as part of “a sign of a bigger shift” on the left in an article titled, “Pod Save Palestine.”

Buttigieg’s answers to Favreau’s questions served as a kind of preview of how Democrats might handle the issue, as he is both considered one of the party’s most articulate surrogates and the conversation surrounding the Israel-Hamas war continues to shift.

“More than half of Senate Democrats just voted to oppose the sale of over half a billion dollars worth of U.S. bombs and guns to Israel. Would you have voted to oppose sending those weapons?” Favreau began.

“I think we need to insist that if American taxpayer funding is going to weaponry that is going into Israel, that that is not going to things that shock the conscience. And look, we see images every day that shock the conscience. So much of this is complicated,” Buttigieg replied, adding:

But what’s not complicated is that if a child is starving because of a choice made by a government, that is unconscionable. And we, I think especially, including voices who care about Israel, who believe in Israel’s right to exist, who have stood with Israel in response to the unbelievable cruelty and terrorism of October 7th. I think there’s a reason why so many of those voices are speaking up now, too, because this is not just something that is on its face and in itself a moral catastrophe; it is also a catastrophe for Israel for the long run.

“How do you think the next administration should handle our relationship with Israel? Do you think it should change based on what Netanyahu has done over the last several years?” Favreau followed up.

“Well, certainly Netanyahu can’t be the only voice or the only compass for what should happen in the U.S.-Israel relationship. No matter how strongly, or especially because of how strongly, you might believe in Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, you don’t have to make excuses for the choices that Netanyahu is making, especially because they are often made not only in the name of the Israeli people, but in the name of a U.S. alliance,” Buttigieg replied, adding:

I think that we, as Israel’s strongest ally and friend, you put your arm around your friend when there’s something like this going on and talk about what we’re prepared to do together. And it cannot be—certainly cannot be—what we see right now from this administration and this president talking about beachfront property in Gaza before he’s prepared to talk about human suffering in Gaza.

“Do you think it’s time to recognize a Palestinian state?” Favreau asked next, working through a list of tough questions on the topic.
“I think that’s a profound question that arouses a lot of the biggest problems that have happened with Israel’s survival, Israel’s right to survival in the diplomatic scene. And many of the people who have taken that step historically have done so for different reasons than what we see happening with European countries,” replied Buttigeig, concluding:

I think we need to step back and we need to do whatever it takes to ensure that there is a real two-state solution and that no one, not even the likes of Netanyahu, can veto the international community’s commitment to a two-state solution where you have Palestinians and Israelis living with safety, with security, with rights. I believe that can happen, but we have to actually show some commitment to it.

Watch the clip above.