Last night on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, the host host spoke again about the Israel-Hamas war, this time criticizing former President Barack Obama for comments he made this week.
Obama told the hosts of Pod Save America this week that “all of us are complicit” for the escalated violence in the Middle East that followed the October 7 attack on Israel.
“What Hamas did was horrific, and there is no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation, and what’s happening to Palestinians, is unbearable,” said the 44th president. “If you want to solve the problem, then you have to take in the whole truth. And then you have to admit nobody’s hands are clean, that all of us are complicit to some degree.”
During his panel discussion, Maher took issue with Obama for supporting the “moral equivalency” argument, which compares Israel to the Palestinian terrorist group.
“I must say I am struggling with people’s moral equivalency still,” said Maher. “I mean, Barack Obama, who has rarely disappointed me, did so this week… His statement, I mean, it’s not a horrible statement, but he said, ‘If you want to solve the problem, then you have to take in the whole truth and then you have to admit nobody’s hands are clean.’ Literally that’s true, of course. But just giving two examples where this is I don’t think a helpful statement at this moment. First of all, the attack was only a month ago. A more savage attack that we’ve ever seen in reverse. There’s a big difference between collateral damage and what Hamas did.”
He added: “Secondly, the Israelis are now on the four-hour pause for people to get out. So people say ‘oh, wow, how big of them.’ Ok, but it is a war that the other side started! It’s so interesting. When they fired [at] Israel. It’s a war. When Israel fires back, it’s a war crime. Little crazy… Also, would Hamas do that? Would they give four-hour pauses? No, no pausing.”
Maher then mentioned how Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu was suspended indefinitely this week after saying that nuking Gaza was a possibility.
“And then Israel’s heritage minister, was asked in an interview about using a nuke on Gaza. And he said ‘that’s one of the possibilities.’ He was fired, not allowed in the Cabinet meeting anymore, disavowed by the Prime Minister,” noted Maher, asking “Would that happen in reverse? So enough with the moral equivalencies, please.”
He then challenged his panel to consider the “Islamic fanaticism” component of Hamas, “because you’re not supposed to talk about that anymore because if you do, even how realistic it is, it becomes Islamophobic.”
“But it’s true!” Maher exclaimed. “The people in Hamas who kill their own people think they’re doing them a favor because they’re becoming martyrs. That’s a different kind of situation to have to deal with that Israel has that most people don’t.”
Lastly, he criticized the open letter that was signed by over 750 journalists supporting the use of terms like “apartheid” and “genocide” by media outlets to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
“They couldn’t be more pro-Hamas,” Maher said. “They say they want the newsroom to adopt words such as ‘apartheid.’ I hear it all the time anyway, It’s wrong. And I hear ‘genocide.’ Again, wrong. Israel is not trying to commit genocide. The other side- blatantly saying we would love to commit genocide on you.”