SACRAMENTO — Democratic divides over the ongoing bloody conflict in the Middle East were on display this week as gubernatorial candidates made their pitches to politically active Jewish Californians.
Five of the candidates running to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run in 2026 because of term limits, overwhelmingly agreed about the horror of the Hamas attack on Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, while also lamenting the ensuing deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, notably women and children.
But there were differences in their views of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the terrorist attack, which the Jewish state’s authorities said caused the deaths of about 1,200 people, and 251 people being taken hostage, including some American citizens. The Israeli efforts have resulted in the deaths of more than 52,000 Gazans, according to the region’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa raised the terrorist attack on Israel most directly when he spoke to the Jewish Public Affairs Committee gathering in the state’s capital on Tuesday.
“For me, Oct. 7 was a day that will live in me and a day that will be seared in my memory,” he told hundreds of attendees. “To see women and children brutalized, older people, people without weapons, killed in front of their family.”
He said in an interview afterward that although he is not a Netanyahu supporter, he doesn’t believe the Israel response has gone too far.
“Look, I’m well aware of what Hamas does. Hamas puts their ammunition in hospitals. They put their rockets under apartment buildings. They built infrastructure in places, daring the Israelis to hit them back,” Villaraigosa said. “Nobody enjoys seeing the number of innocents who have been killed. But I put that mostly on Hamas.”
At the conference, former Rep. Katie Porter spoke about the rising antisemitism in the nation.
“So we have to be honest and just say that it is scary right now to be a Jewish person. It is scary to be American in many instances, because we are seeing rising hate, and that hate has been targeted in particular at the Jewish people and at Jewish institutions,” Porter said on Monday, pointing to the recent arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home.
Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, added that although she prioritizes protecting free speech, “there is a line above which you cannot go,” when speech places people in danger.
Though governors do not craft foreign policy, California’s voice is influential because of the large number of Jewish and Muslim residents who live here — the second-most of any state in the nation for both religious groups.
Additionally, the conflict and the United States’ support of Israel has roiled Democratic politics in the state and across the nation, not only among members of the two religious groups, but also with young and liberal voters.
Weeks after the terrorist attack, about 1,000 protesters shut down a California Democratic Party convention in Sacramento, calling then-President Biden “Genocide Joe.” The incident occurred days after protesters clashed with police outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee.
The administration’s response led to some Democrats turning against the party in the 2024 presidential election. Nearly 70% of voters in Dearborn, Mich., traditionally a Democratic stronghold that is home to the largest concentration of Muslims in the country, voted for President Trump or Green Party candidate Jill Stein last year.
The divide could reemerge at the state Democratic Party convention in Anaheim later this month.
This week’s appearance by five gubernatorial candidates points to the importance of Jewish voters, who tend to vote at higher rates than average Americans, according to Brandeis University. Each spoke about their ties with the Jewish community.
Former state Controller Betty Yee, whose husband is a rabbi, said she believes that the governor of California can help build bridges between the diverse communities in this state.
“I’ll just speak as someone who cares about our common humanity; as a humanitarian, I can’t stomach what’s happened,” she said in an interview, adding that Netayahu has overstepped.
Her husband’s experiences leading interfaith dialogues grew more challenging in the aftermath of the attack.
“Oct. 7 really put a lot of strain on those relationships, and it’s just now finally kind of starting to come around … to move forward together, and to understand who’s the enemy,” she said. “Well, the enemy is anybody who’s just going to be for senseless killings.”
State Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Turmond, whose family converted to Hebrew Pentecostalism when he was a child, said his agency has had to intervene in some K-12 districts about discussions of the conflict and its effect on students.
“Teachers and educators at the end of the day have to refrain from imparting their personal view to students and telling them how they should feel, and that has happened in a few cases, and that has gotten those districts in trouble,” he said in an interview.
Current events ought to be teachable moments, he said.
“We have a history of social science framework that says we should use world life events as an opportunity to teach,” Thurmond said. “But the moment that anyone starts imparting their personal view for any side, then it’s gone too far. And what it has led to has been experiences where Jewish students have felt targeted and isolated, and ultimately, some have left those districts.”
Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra held the Jewish community up as a paragon for what the state ought to strive for in challenging times.
“When I visit communities across the state, I hear a very familiar worry that our politics are too broken, our systems too slow, our future too uncertain. But I don’t believe in giving in,” he said Tuesday morning. “We don’t get to choose the challenges of our times, but we do get to choose how we respond to them. The Jewish community in California has answered that question time and time again, with action, with advocacy, with hearts.”
Villaraigosa discussed his childhood in Boyle Heights, growing up alongside Latinos, Jews and Asian Americans, as well as the strong support he received from Jewish Angelenos during his campaigns. Porter touched upon her relationship with the Jewish community in Orange County, including holding her first town hall at a synagogue there.
Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis was scheduled to appear at the conference but had a scheduling conflict because of a family matter.