When Pete Buttigieg was asked a question about Israel and Gaza this week on “Pod Save America,” the former transportation secretary and possible 2028 presidential contender answered in a way that matched many Democrats’ stances on Israel: broadly supportive of the U.S.-Israel relationship while sharply critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his role in the humanitarian crisis. 

But after facing a barrage of attacks on social media from progressives and anti-Israel activists, Buttigieg did an about face and gave in to critics, telling Politico on Thursday that he would have supported recent Senate resolutions seeking to block certain arms sales to Israel and that he would recognize a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution. 

Most surprisingly, he said the U.S. should not negotiate another 10-year memorandum of understanding with Israel laying out Washington’s military support for the Jewish state — a crucial component of America’s Middle East policy that was last negotiated in the Obama administration and runs through 2028. 

“Pete Buttigieg is a viable [contender for] president of the United States. He won the Iowa caucus. He was the transportation secretary. And his words really matter,” one former senior Biden administration official told Jewish Insider. “The fact that he so quickly got wobbly and said his comments about the 10-year MOU suggests that those who still believe in standing strong really need to stand up right now, because we’re seeing a trend that’s extremely disturbing.”

In 2016, the U.S. and Israel signed a 10-year deal that pledged $3.8 billion in military assistance to Israel each year, which President Barack Obama celebrated at the time: “Under President Obama’s leadership, the multifaceted cooperation between the United States and Israel has reached unprecedented levels,” the White House said nine years ago. Even as some progressive Democrats have sought to condition or limit military assistance to Israel, there has not yet been a concerted effort to cancel or significantly alter the MOU. 

A spokesperson for Buttigieg said the former South Bend, Ind. mayor stood by his comments and suggested he wants to see a major change in American military support for Israel. 

“He said we have to shift to a more case-by-case approach, instead of a blanket approach,” the Buttigieg spokesperson told JI on Thursday. “There is a difference between providing defensive equipment so that they can shoot down Iranian missiles raining down on them, versus contributing to the conduct of a war that now has civilians starving within a few miles of food that is intended for them.”

That Buttigieg so rapidly gave in to pressure from the progressive left is an indication of where the party’s center of gravity is moving when it comes to Israel and Gaza. When Buttigieg ran for president in the 2020 Democratic primary, he was viewed as more liberal than Joe Biden on Israel, but much more centrist than Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). 

Buttigieg has for years been seen a more moderate voice in the party who could speak to both progressives and conservatives — as indicated by his frequent appearances on Fox News last year during the 2024 campaign. His willingness to acquiesce to the left in just a matter of days suggests the influence of the left-wing base in Democratic politics is growing.

At a J Street conference in 2019, Buttigieg criticized some Israeli actions and said America should express that disagreement — as a friend. “What you do in that situation is you put your arm around your friends and you try to guide them to a better place,” Buttigieg said. He also said that year that he would not consider cutting aid to Israel. 

A year earlier, in 2018, he traveled to Israel with the American Jewish Committee, and said afterward that support for Israel “shouldn’t be” a “left vs. right issue.” 

In the original “Pod Save America” interview that aired earlier this week, Buttigieg hinted at frustration with Israel’s actions in Gaza while declining to answer questions about the Senate resolutions or Palestinian statehood. “I think we need to insist that if American taxpayer funding is going to weaponry that is going to Israel, that that is not going to things that shock the conscience,” he said. 

Buttigieg suggested, though, that his concerns about Israel’s actions in Gaza come from a position of caring about the country.

“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 Oct. 7 — I think there’s a reason why so many of those voices are speaking up now too,” he said. “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.”

His response was criticized by former Obama administration official Ben Rhodes and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), who has in recent weeks been leading the charge for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state.

Andrew Bates, who serves as a deputy press secretary in the Biden administration, told JI he viewed Buttigieg’s answer as pro-Israel and anti-Netanyahu.

“I took Buttigieg’s interview to mean he is strongly committed to America’s alliance with Israel and Israel’s right to self-defense, but that he does not support Netanyahu’s new offensive. I agree,” said Bates. But he declined to weigh in on Buttigieg’s about-face.

Some of the leading pro-Israel voices in the Democratic Party have tried to avoid the intra-party squabble about the Senate resolutions and whether to recognize a Palestinian state. Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland both declined to comment on the topic to Politico. 

Shapiro said recently the U.S. has a “moral responsibility” to get aid to Gaza, and he told JI last month that support for Israel should remain bipartisan.