THE BUZZ: ISRAEL-GAZA SHIFT — Moderate and establishment Democrats in California once made pains to avoid uttering “cease-fire.” Now, they’re calling for one. For months party leaders resisted demands from progressive activists to support a cease-fire in Israel’s war with Hamas. But that dam has broken recently as top Democrats warm up to it, most notably with Gov. Gavin Newsom backing the call in a letter Friday. “I support President Biden’s call for an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to secure desperately needed relief for Gazan civilians and the release of hostages,” Newsom wrote in the open letter, which was addressed to Muslim, Palestinian American and Arab American communities during Ramadan. Newsom’s call for a temporary cease-fire with conditions follows the stance set by Biden, who also hasn’t expressed support for the permanent halt to violence that many in the party’s left flank have demanded. Nevertheless, Newsom’s letter marks a significant semantic shift. Newsom, who traveled to Israel last fall to meet with survivors of the Oct. 7 Hamas’ attack, isn’t the only prominent California Democrat to call for a cease-fire. Vice President Kamala Harris, in a speech earlier this month, backed an immediate, cease-fire of at least six weeks given the “immense scale of suffering” in Gaza. Even moderate Democratic House members from swing districts have warmed up to the idea of a cease-fire, including Rep. Josh Harder, who represents a battleground district in the Central Valley near Tracy. He started backing a bilateral cease-fire in January, saying the situation is “untenable.” Progressives were quick to celebrate Newsom’s letter, though they said it should have come months earlier. The governor also denounced Hamas’ terrorist attack against Israel and demanded the release of hundreds of Israeli hostages. “It’s about time, right? The thing that always saddens me is that 30,000-plus people have to be murdered for people to notice,” said Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, chair of the California Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus. The shift comes amid worsening humanitarian conditions and starvation on the ground in Gaza, which has drawn international condemnation. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council passed a cease-fire resolution after the U.S. declined to exercise its veto power (which added to growing tensions between Israeli-American governments). Staunch supporters of the Israeli government in California, however, say the word choice employed by the governor and others isn’t necessarily reflective of a substantive shift and doesn’t signal a turn against an important U.S. ally. Rather, Newsom is merely echoing Biden’s push for a temporary halt to allow for humanitarian aid, they said. David Bocarsly, executive director at the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California, argued little, if anything, has changed in Newsom’s position since Oct. 7. “People are looking to claim that elected officials are picking a side,” Bocarsly said. “The word ‘cease-fire’ has become weaponized in a way that it’s become easy to do so.” Newsom’s reference to a cease-fire is being ridiculed by Republicans, who accuse him of caving to leftwing activists. California Republican Party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson called his letter a “cease-fire word salad” and chided Newsom for including “only a single mention of Hamas and hostages.” | 
