Netanyahu slammed for joking about fast food on Nelk Boys podcast as Gaza starves
The podcast, hosted by Kyle Forgeard and Aaron Steinberg of the Nelk Boys - a Canadian-American influencer collective known for its conservative-leaning content - is particularly popular among young men.
The interview, which starts with Netanyahu praising US President Donald Trump and their "decades-long" friendship, quickly shifts to Netanyahu expressing alarm over shifting attitudes among young Americans towards Israel.
"I'm concerned that the young people in America are getting the wrong picture of Israel," he says.
He goes on to justify his podcast appearance as part of a broader image campaign: "The only way you can fight lies is with the truth. And you have to tell it as often and as intensely as the lies that are leveled against you... I'm doing this podcast among other things to reach young people."
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As reports from humanitarian groups were confirming that children are dying of starvation in Gaza, Netanyahu appeared on the podcast to crack jokes about his longtime love of fast food: "I was a junk food junkie for many years," he said with a chuckle.
'Out of touch'
He then went on to reminisce about an occasional visit to the US with his wife Sarah, saying: "You know what the first thing we did was? McDonald's. And to be honest, Burger King. I like Burger King more."
The casual tone and detachment from the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza drew swift condemnation online.
"As Gaza starves, Netanyahu jokes about McDonald's with 'manosphere' podcasters Nelk Boys. What a genocidal disgusting piece of shit," one user wrote on X.
Children in Gaza show signs of malnutrition and abuse after detention in Israel Read More »
"Imaging being the Nelk Boys [right now] total idiots. full access to Netanyahu, and the hardest hitting question they ask is 'do you prefer Burger King or McDonalds?' while Netanyahu starves an entire population," another user posted.
In a tweet on X, One Path Network accused the Nelk Boys of helping to polish Netanyahu's image.
"The Nelk Boys had an opportunity to challenge power, to ask about the siege, the bombings, the starvation. Instead, they offered him fries. In doing so, they helped launder the image of a man overseeing one of the worst humanitarian disasters of our time."
Others said the interview was "the most out-of-touch interview", as Netanyahu shared how he enjoys eating burgers with Trump.
"When President Trump comes to Israel. And then we have dinner, we bring this chef, he's like a very good chef. And he gives a seven-course dinner. Telling you, seven-course, it's the longest dinner I've ever had. And you know in this fancy plate he brings up this dressed up hamburger and I look at Trump and he looks at me. Finally we had what we wanted. We got the hamburger, you know," Netanyahu said.
"the normalization of Netanyahu, the constant whitewashing of Israel's alleged war crimes... is why a man who has blood dripping from his hands...can be invited on to the Nelk Boys' highly influential podcast to jokes about whether he prefers McDonald's or Burger King." https://t.co/pxnKXfD1Jh — Mobeen Hussain (@amhuss27) July 25, 2025
Scripted
The interview also drew sharp backlash for a series of inflammatory remarks made by Netanyahu. Many were outraged by his description of women in Gaza, which he called as "property" during the podcast.
"You know what the women in Gaza are? They're property. They're nothing. They have no rights. They're completely subjugated, and God forbid they're executed anytime they commit a so-called offense," he added.
Some called the comments "disgusting" while another pointed out the irony.
"Claiming to care about the rights of women in Gaza while bombing their homes, starving their children, and denying them access to healthcare and safety. There is no feminism in occupation. You can't liberate women by killing them."
The final wave of backlash turned directly towards the Nelk Boys themselves, after a video clip went viral in which they admitted that the interview script had been written and provided by the White House - with no room for edits or input.
Nelk boy admits he was given a "script" with questions to ask Netanyahu. This is idiot just confirmed they were doing straight propaganda for Israel pic.twitter.com/H1HqhsfdDK — YeetTheRich_ (@_Yeet_The_Rich_) July 23, 2025
The revelation only intensified criticism that the entire episode is "sickening propoganda" that was orchestrated rather than a genuine conversation.
"Why the actual FUCK is it not a bigger story that the White House Communications Team setup an interview with Benjamin Netanyahu and the fucking Nelk Boys? What in the name of propaganda is going on here?" asked a user.
The Nelk Boys have confirmed that their softball interview with Benjamin Netanyahu was largely scripted as the PM's team had handed them "a paper with questions to ask" in advance.
They also revealed the interview was set up by the White House. pic.twitter.com/kc8cawD503 — Furkan Gözükara (@GozukaraFurkan) July 23, 2025
One person pointed out that the episode was a confirmation of what many had already suspected: "Now it's 100% proof that Netanyahu did this interview only to push propaganda and to try to humanize himself while he commits a genocide."
Some called the Nelk Boys "puppets", while many also highlighted the fact that the Nelk Boys were unable to push back with Netanyahu throughout the hour-long interview.
"The nelk boys were misinformed and unable to pushback to anything netanyahu said, making it easy for him to spew pure bs propaganda to a largely misinformed younger [audience]," one user wrote.
"You guys didn't question him once, this is crazy," another added in the comments on YouTube.
The Nelk Boys' YouTube channel lost over 10,000 subscribers within 24 hours of the episode's release on 21 July. The interview also received more dislikes than likes before the group disabled the visibility of the dislike count on the video.
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