John Oliver Calls Out Netanyahu's ‘Insulting' Attempts to ‘Deflect Our Attention' From Starving Gazans
Following in the steps of Seth Meyers last week, 'Last Week Tonight' host John Oliver used his show on Sunday night to call for U.S. aid to Gaza. But first, the HBO host called out Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his 'insulting' attempts to 'deflect' from the starvation that's happening.
To kick off the episode, Oliver noted as usual that a lot happened in the week. But, he couldn't dig into much of it 'because, to quote the least horny message you could possibly get on Hinge, we need to talk about Gaza.' More specifically, Oliver wanted to take the time to discuss the lack of food available in the region.
More from TheWrap
HBO Max Pokes Fun at Accidentally Streaming 'The Gilded Age' in Spanish: 'But for Real, Lo Siento'
'King of the Hill' Cast and Crew Tease That Time-Jump – and Which Character Is 'Not Extreme Anymore'
Skydance Television Head Matt Thunell to Oversee Paramount TV Studios
'Morning Joe': Trump's Handling of Weak Jobs Report Would Be 'Unthinkable a Decade Ago' | Video
But, despite images and video footage of families struggling to obtain food to survive, Netanyahu has said in recent press briefings that there is 'no starvation' in Gaza.
'Yeah, are you sure about that though? Because we can all see it, right in front of us,' Oliver retorted. 'And it's frankly insulting to think you can deflect our attention with all the skill of a s–tty magician.'
At that, a graphic of Netanyahu dressed as a magician popped up onscreen, showing the man holding a top hat with bunny ears sticking out.
''Ladies and gentlemen, there is nothing in this hat,'' Oliver acted out. 'Oh. f–k off! I can see its ears and it smells like rabbit s–t in here! How stupid do you think we are? And it is notable that, at this point, even Trump isn't buying it.'
Indeed, when asked directly whether he agrees with Netanyahu that there is no starvation earlier this week, Trump did not. 'I mean, based on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very hungry,' he said during his visit to Scotland.
Of course, Oliver didn't think that was a good enough answer by any means.
'OK, describing starving children as looking 'very hungry' is a massive understatement, right up there with 'We were just friends,'' Oliver sniped, as an image of Trump and convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein appeared onscreen.
Oliver conceded that Trump's response was a 'rare moment' of the president 'resembling empathy,' but immediately pointed out that 'he still managed to make everything about himself' by complaining that Gaza hasn't thanked the U.S. enough for aid sent so far.
As the segment went on, Oliver eventually called on the U.S. to intervene on the crisis in Gaza and pressure international officials to make sure aid is actually getting distributed.
'What's so frustrating is that most humanitarian disasters don't come with solutions as straightforward as this one,' Oliver said. 'Hurricanes don't tend to have kill switches that you can flip. You can't stop a pandemic by simply hanging a 'Do Not Infect' sign on your door.'
'But this famine truly does have an off button, as it's entirely man-made and we need to f–king press it,' Oliver finished.
'Last Week Tonight' airs Sundays at 11 p.m. ET on HBO and is streaming on HBO Max.
The post John Oliver Calls Out Netanyahu's 'Insulting' Attempts to 'Deflect Our Attention' From Starving Gazans appeared first on TheWrap.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

28 minutes ago
Murdered Congressional intern's mom says Trump should take over Washington, DC
As President Donald Trump continues to rail against crime in the nation's capital, saying violence is out of control and that Washington, D.C., should be federalized, the mother of a Congressional intern gunned down in June told ABC News on Thursday that she agrees with the president. Since beginning his second term in the Oval Office, Trump has slammed local leaders, claiming they have not done enough to crack down on violent crime in the district. The president ramped up his criticism after a 19-year-old former employee of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was left beaten and bloodied early Sunday during an attempted carjacking in northwest Washington, D.C. Trump said in a social media post that the incident showed that "crime in Washington, D.C., is totally out of control." The president also suggested that minors involved in such crimes should be prosecuted as adults, "starting at 14." "If D.C. doesn't get its act together, and quickly, we will have no choice but to take Federal control of the City, and run this City how it should be run, and put criminals on notice that they're not going to get away with it anymore," Trump said in his post. Two 15-year-old suspects were arrested in Sunday's assault of the former DOGE employee, identified in a police incident report as 19-year-old Edward Coristine, but investigators said up to eight other perpetrators remain at large. The carjacking assault came after two other high-profile violent attacks in Washington, D.C., over the past three months. On May 21, two employees of the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., were gunned down outside the Capital Jewish Museum, allegedly by a 31-year-old Illinois man shouting "free, free Palestine." An indictment against the suspect, charging him with federal hate crime and murder, was unsealed this week. On June 30, Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, a 21-year-old intern for Rep. Ron Estes, R-Kan., was fatally shot in northwest Washington, D.C., when he got caught in the crossfire of a drive-by shooting, according to police. No arrests have been made in the homicide. Tarpinian-Jachym's mother, Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym, told ABC News on Thursday that she believes that the laws in Washington, D.C., need a drastic overhaul to crack down on juvenile offenders and gang members caught committing violence. "As far as I'm concerned, if Trump feels that he needs to take it over until they [city leadership] can get their act together and start prosecuting these juveniles and these people to the fullest extent of the law and not slap their hands so they can go out and do it again and get into more violent crime as they age, I feel it's a good idea," said Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym, who lives in Massachusetts. She added, "My son didn't deserve what happened to him. Nobody deserves that. He was shot. He wasn't the intended target." Washington, D.C., residents can expect to see an increase in federal law enforcement around the city starting as early as this week, a White House official told ABC News. The official stressed that operational details have yet to be finalized, but the White House is working with multiple agencies to use federal and local enforcement to monitor crime in the city. "Washington, D.C., is an amazing city, but it has sadly been plagued by petty and violent crime for far too long. President Trump is committed to making our Nation's capital safer and even more beautiful for its residents, lawmakers, and visitors from all around the world," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to ABC News. Despite Trump's claims that violent crime in the city has gotten out of hand, police statistics show that in the past two years violent crime in Washington, D.C., has fallen dramatically. "Compared to where it was two years ago, when it really peaked in 2023, it's down 50%," Jeff Asher, a national crime analyst, told ABC News on Thursday. Asher said that, statistically, violent crime in Washington, D.C., is back down to levels not seen since before the start of the pandemic in 2020. Overall, violent crime in Washington, D.C., and across the country skyrocketed during the pandemic as criminal courts shut down and jail populations were dramatically reduced in an effort to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Homicides in Washington, D.C., rose from 166 in 2019 to 226 in 2021 and climbed to 274 in 2023, according to crime stats from the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department. In the first seven months of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, overall violent crime has dropped 26%, homicides have fallen 12%, sexual assaults are down nearly 50%, assaults with a dangerous weapon have tumbled 20%, and robberies are down nearly 30%. Asher, a former crime analyst at the CIA and the New Orleans Police Department, said there has also been a 68% decline in carjackings in Washington, D.C., since 2023. Compared to the first seven months of 2024, carjackings in the city are down 37% this year, Asher said. "That doesn't disprove that crime is an issue, just like it's an issue in a lot of cities where it's coming down, " Asher said. "But it's certainly not something that's getting worse; it's a problem that's improving." Despite the improving crime statistics, Trump told reporters on Wednesday that White House lawyers are looking into how to go about federalizing Washington, D.C. He said his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was working with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. A spokesperson for the mayor told ABC News they had no comment on Trump's threat to take over the city. "We're considering it, yeah, because the crime is ridiculous," Trump said. "I could show you a chart comparing D.C. to other locations, and you're not going to want to see what it looks like. We want to have a great safe capital, and we're going to have it, and that includes cleanliness and includes other things. We have a capital that's very unsafe." The district has some autonomy under the 1973 Home Rule Act, which grants residents the ability to manage affairs by electing a mayor and city council members. But final oversight of the district's laws and budget is left to Congress. In 2023, for example, the U.S. House of Representatives blocked two local bills from going into effect, including one that would have updated the district's criminal code. Trump does appear to have some legal power to direct the Metropolitan Police Department under the Home Rule Act, "whenever [he] determines that special conditions of an emergency nature exist…" When asked about the falling crime statistics, Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym told ABC News, "I don't believe in statistics because statistics can be skewed in any way." Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym noted that when her son was killed, Bowser said at a news conference that her son was the city's 84th homicide of the year. As of Thursday, homicides in the city had risen to 99.


New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Netanyahu Said Israel Wanted to Take Military Control of Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel intended to take control of all of Gaza. He described the move as an effort to 'assure our security' and liberate both Israelis and Palestinians 'from the awful terror of Hamas.' The plan went against the advice of Israel's military, which has pushed for a cease-fire and argued that full-fledged occupation of Gaza would require up to five years of sustained combat. Its chief of staff has pushed back against the potential plan, according to officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Netanyahu has said that the military would carry out any decision ordered by the country's security cabinet. However, he suggested today that Israel was not interested in maintaining permanent control over Gaza. 'We want to hand it over to Arab forces,' he said. Some analysts have argued that Netanyahu's threats were an attempt to compel Hamas to offer concessions in cease-fire negotiations, which are at an impasse. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Anti-Israel activist confronts former IDF soldier on New York beach, gets questioned in return
A peaceful afternoon on a New York beach took a jarring turn when an anti-Israel activist launched a verbal tirade against a former Israeli soldier, simply for wearing a Star of David necklace. The incident, captured on video and posted by ILTV Israel News, shows the activist shouting accusations and interrogating the man and his friends in an increasingly heated exchange. "Yesterday, an unhinged pro-Hamas protester targeted a former IDF soldier on a New York beach, simply for wearing a Star of David," the outlet captioned the clip on Instagram. "Despite her shouting and offensive behavior, the Israelis stayed calm, respectful, and composed. The only hate in that video came from one side as usual and it wasn't theirs," the post continued. Anti-israel Activist Mahmoud Khalil Claims Oct. 7 Terror Attack Was 'Desperate Attempt' For Gaza To Be Heard In the video, the activist approaches a man sitting on a towel with a woman and another man, accusing him of war crimes. Read On The Fox News App "You went to Gaza, right? You fought children? You killed children in Gaza?" she shouts at him. Both men calmly answered her questions. One of them confirmed he served in the Israel Defense Forces and had been stationed in Gaza. The woman he's sitting with adds, "He went to Gaza to help all the children that your people killed." As the woman continues filming and yelling, one of the men attempts to de-escalate. Zohran Mamdani's Dsa Sponsors Protest With 'Death, Death To The Idf!' War Cry "So if you want to see a picture of [my brother] over there right now, I can show you what's going on." The protester screams back, demanding to see it. "Please show me a picture of your brother in Gaza, please do. Please. The world wants to see your faces. The world does want to see your faces!" she screams at him. She then asks if he is proud of his service. Smiling, he replies, "I'm proud of serving my country." That only fuels her anger. "You think killing other people and radicalizing them makes your people safer?" she shouts. He calmly fires back, bringing up the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, in which over 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered and hundreds taken hostage. The man invites her to have a real conversation. She refuses. New York Man Charged With Federal Hate Crimes After Assaulting Jewish People At Anti-israel Protests: Doj He asks if she's ever been to Gaza. "I cannot go to Gaza," she replies. "Your people are not letting me." "If you go there right now, dressed like that, they'll slaughter you," he says, pointing to her bikini. "That's not true!" she screams back. A lifeguard eventually approaches, attempting to mediate. The protester claims the Israelis insulted her and that they are IDF soldiers who "killed people in Gaza." "Insulted you? How did I insult you?" the man asks, still calm. He again offers to talk — she declines. "Why would I want to talk to your guys? You guys have killed my people! You're killing children," she yells. "Why are you sitting with people who kill children? Is that cool for you?" she asks the other man sitting in the group. "Just leave us alone," the man replies. As she walks away, she shouts one final slogan: "Free Palestine!" Fox News Digital reached out to the New York City Parks Department for comment on the incident but did not receive a article source: Anti-Israel activist confronts former IDF soldier on New York beach, gets questioned in return Solve the daily Crossword