Each and every week, fans tune in to see Bill Maher rant and rave about “wokeism” and Gen Z, mock COVID-19 safety protocols, and engage in casual Islamophobia and transphobia. The takes, stale as ever, are identical to those you see on any Substack run by a disgraced and/or wildly uncollegial ex-reporter or a right-wing podcast. While I’m not under any illusion that Maher is anywhere close to a journalist, if he’s going to continue masquerading as some sort of tell it like it is cultural authority, then he should at least exercise a degree of social responsibility.
On Friday night, Maher welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu to his Real Time show. As prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu lorded over what UN rights experts call an apartheid regime, cozied up to one of the most nakedly corrupt presidents in U.S. history in Donald Trump, and proved so corrupt that he was pushed out by his government after being indicted on bribery and fraud charges (owing to his allegedly receiving bribes from Hollywood producers and pushing legislation beneficial toward a newspaper group in exchange for favorable coverage).
So, did Maher ask Netanyahu about any of his corruption charges? No.
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Instead, the comedian—who repeatedly referred to his guest as “Bibi”, beaming in from Tel Aviv—asked the opposition leader “Will Israel retaliate?” over Kanye West’s tweet that he plans to go “death con 3” on Jews, to which Netanyahu replied, “Antisemitism is the longest hatred in history. It goes back thousands of years. We’ve dealt with bigger problems than these stupidities. But, you know, the communists blame the Jews for being capitalists, the capitalists blame the Jews for being communists. You have a problem, blame the Jews. It’s old stuff. It shouldn’t have any place in civilized discourse. That’s the reason we established the Jewish State—so the Jewish people would have defense against these absurdities, and sometimes they’re coupled with violence. We don’t let that happen again.”
A visibly nervous Maher then went on to conflate American congresspeople’s criticism of the state of Israel and its treatment of the Palestinian people with Kanye West’s antisemitism, before asking Netanyahu: “Are you massacring Palestinians? Are you ethnic cleansing? And are you an apartheid state?”
After a brief pause, Netanyahu replied, “No, no, and no. I mean, these are ridiculous charges against the one democracy in the Middle East. The one democracy that upholds human rights, that defends freedom, and is America’s best ally. So, I think these people should wake up to reality, but I think that’s far too great a hope. It’s not gonna happen… This is fake old news. It goes back thousands of years. We’re not impressed by it.” He subsequently urged the public to support “the brave women of Iran” instead of Palestinians.
Then, Maher told Netanyahu that “if 51 percent of Israel became Arab then you would have to become an apartheid state”—a bizarre claim, to say the least.
When asked about a two-state solution, Netanyahu said, “The main problem with Israel and the Palestinians are not the settlements, it’s the persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize the Jewish state in any boundary.” He went on to argue that “the Palestinians don’t want peace.”
Netanyahu proceeded to tout the Abraham Accords and brush off a question from Maher about how Trump could be both good to Israel and a “demagogue” who oversaw a “coup” in America, before Maher wished him “mazel tov” on Israel’s upcoming 75th anniversary and “good luck in the election.”
Later on, Maher had astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson on as a panel guest. If you think Maher asked him about his numerous sexual misconduct allegations, well, of course he didn’t.
