Jon Stewart on “The Daily Show” on April 8, 2024. Photo: Screenshot

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart berated the Biden administration on Monday for condemning Russian aggression against Ukraine during the ongoing war between the two countries but failing to do the same with Israel and its military actions in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

Stewart did a “wellness check” on the Israel-Hamas war, solely focusing on Gaza, in light of it being six months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. “As the war has grinded on, justice is beginning to seem more like cruelty,” he said.

The Daily Show host then played clips of President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre denouncing Russia’s attempts to target journalists, suppress freedom of the press, and weaponize food shortages against Ukrainians.

“Speaking of which, there is a literal famine in Gaza caused by the war. I assume America will also consider this unconscionable?” Stewart asked. “How about the free press? Ordinarily we are strongly in favor of free press. More journalists have been killed in Gaza in six months than anywhere else in the world, and a new Israeli law says they can ban media outlets they consider a threat.”

Stewart showed clips of Jean-Pierre and White House spokesperson John Kirby expressing only “concern” about Israel’s actions in Gaza and reports that Israel was considering banning the news network Al Jazeera for allegedly posing a threat to national security. The talk show host said that if the reports about Al Jazeera were true, then the US should “condemn it.”

Stewart then moved on to discuss what he called the “bedrock rule of international law” regarding forceful land seizures. He played a clip of Biden denouncing such behavior by Russia.

“You might say Israel’s war is different [from] Ukraine’s — Israel is responding to an attack and hostage crisis. But in the midst of that, they pulled a little something in the West Bank on March 22 that might be notable,” Stewart said, referring to the Israeli government’s appropriation of land in the West Bank.

“That’s not even Gaza. That’s the West Bank. So you can’t say this has anything to do with defending yourself against Hamas. Let’s see if America upholds its rule against taking land,” Stewart said.

“Why do we tiptoe around on eggshells?” the frustrated talk show host exclaimed. “They [Israel] slap America in the face and our response is, ‘Well, if anyone slapped us in the face, it’d be concerning, that’s for sure. I mean, raising a hand to a delicate body part of the face, if true.’ The verbal gymnastics that the American government must undertake so as not to offend the delicate sensibilities of a country we provide most of the weapons for is yarghhhhh!”

“Every time America tells the world that there’s something we won’t allow, Israel seems to say, ‘challenge accepted.’ Are they willfully trying to provoke us?” Stewart added. “Or perhaps they’re just reading our principles from right to left?”

Steward ended by criticizing Biden’s response to the death toll in Gaza since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

“What the f–k are we doing here? The subtext of all this is America knows this is wrong. But apparently, it doesn’t seem to have the courage to say it in a straightforward manner,” he added. “You cannot bomb your way into safety. And after this recent week, with so much horror, perhaps America finally finds the need for a new approach with Israel with more justice and less cruelty.”

Analyses of casualty figures coming out of Gaza indicate the Hamas-controlled health authorities there systematically overcount civilian casualties and undercount terrorist combatants who were killed.