In case you missed it, British-American comedian John Oliver unloaded on Israel in a widely viewed segment of his weekly HBO show “Last Week Tonight” on Sunday night.
Unsurprisingly it prompted heated social media responses from both sides, but it also inspired an extended answer from two popular Israeli comedians, one of whom even modeled his own show after Oliver’s.
Tom Aharon hosted “Pa’am Be’shavu’a im Tom Aharon” (“Once a Week with Tom Aharon”) on Israeli TV from 2018 to 2020 and is now developing a new show. He is of Mizrahi descent and often critical of his native country, but he argues in a seven-minute video that Oliver’s critique went too far.
“I would hope to someday have just a fraction of a white man’s confidence when I’m talking about things that happen thousands of miles from where I live,” he says in the video posted Wednesday, which as of Thursday morning had garnered nearly 44,000 YouTube views in a day. “S***, I don’t even have that much certainty about things that happen in my own home.”Aharon begins by pointing out just a few of the many celebrities who have come out strongly against Israel’s actions in the ongoing military conflict with Gaza. He also shows snippets from Oliver’s segment, including one in which Oliver raises his voice to call Israel “an a**hole.”
“Everyone has a right to criticize Israel, it’s ok — I mean, the Holocaust did just happen, but ok, if you have to, that’s how I make my living,” he says in response. “Some might even conclude that we’re the bad guys — someone’s gotta be it right? But I also believe that simplifying a complex matter doesn’t do justice to either side.”
Aharon then goes after the specifics of Oliver’s arguments, including one about the imbalance of military power between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Does being stronger bear certain responsibilities? Sure. But does it automatically mean you’re at fault? Of course not. It almost sounds like you’re mad at us for not taking more casualties,” he says.
“Claiming that imbalance is immoral is the privilege of those who don’t need to make the choice between their own safety and their care for others.”
Like Oliver, whose career took off as a correspondent on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” Aharon became a known comedian through appearances on Lior Schleien’s satirical Israeli news show “Gav HaUma” — which was for years the closest thing Israel had to a “Daily Show” equivalent. Aharon then modeled his own show after Oliver’s HBO series, which he humorously calls “the incredibly popular HBO show I never stole format from.”
“It pained me to see a personal hero of mine saying something” he found so “unfair, unjust” and “simplistic,” Aharon added.
Schleien himself posted a video response to Oliver's segment as well, telling him in a monologue OpEd published by the Forward that he "blew it this time."
"Your arguments were like a Hamas missile - not smart, easily intercepted, yet causing Israel a great deal of damage," he told Oliver in a video published after the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza went into effect on Friday.
Schleien, who has often been referred to in the media as the Israeli Jon Stewart, also attacked the percieved lack of balance in Oliver's monologue, telling him that he doesn't "paint an accurate picture."
He then adds that "not being able to paint an accurate picture is what led us to the Middle East conflict to begin with," as a picture of failed painter and genocidal dictator Adolf Hiter - whom Oliver briefly mentions in his monologue - flashes on the screen next to him.
Schleien said "I feel sorry for the Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but this childish argument - 'Israel is stronger so it's all Israel's fault' - that's a very narrow perspective isn't it?"
He continued, saying "let's embrace your perspective for a minute - Israel is indeed much stronger than Gaza. And yet, for 20 years now, they've been firing rockets at us. How come? I guess we're not that good at committing 'a fucking war crime.'"
"Just because Israel is stronger, doesn't mean it's unjust. It's like you completely forgot the concept of terror," Schleien said, emphasizing the choice of stronger, more inflammatory wording used when speaking about Israel, and mentioning that the word terror wasn't used even once while describing a war between Israel and Hamas, which Oliver referred to as a "militant group."
He continued his arguments, adding that "By the way, you also failed to mention what is it that you want us to do differently about Gaza, since there isn't any territorial dispute. Israel withdrew from Gaza 16 years ago, and there isn't a single Jew there."
"Except for the ones Hamas kidnapped," he added, showing photos of Avera Mengistu, who has been held prisoner by Hamas for over 6 years, and of the two deceased soldiers from 2014's Operation Protesctive Edge, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin.
Regarding the blockade on Gaza, Schleien pointed out that Oliver failed to mention Egypt had also imposed the blockade on Gaza, that Hamas came to power through violent means, or that Israel's reasons for imposing it are security-based.
"We just want to check what's going into Gaza before we see it on its way out," he said.
"See, even if you can't try and recap on screen a complicated controversy in a 10 minute-long monologue - your fans give you the credit that you know all about it. That the opinion you're expressing is based on facts. On the truth."
"And you blew it this time," Schleien concluded.