‘It’s a War!’ Bill Maher Defends Netanyahu When Confronted On The View Over War Crimes Arrest Warrant

Bill Maher was the guest on Tuesday’s episode of ABC’s The View, and the comedian and late-night host butted heads with the co-hosts on some hot-button subjects, namely the Israel-Hamas War.

After a quiet — but tentative — first segment with Maher, the co-hosts mixed things up a bit with their guest after a brief discussion on the use of the word “woke,” which led Maher to say that he was “old enough to remember when it was the conservatives who hated the Jews.” That served as the segue into a conversation about the war and the decision by the International Criminal Court for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyau:

Sunny Hostin: Are you at all concerned about the innocent civilians that have been collectively punished and murdered? Largely children and women? Aren’t you at all concerned about the fact that the International Criminal Court just today issued a subpoena for Bibi Netanyahu?

Maher: Well, that’s that’s ridiculous, but it’s a war.

Hostin: Why?

Maher: Because it’s a war. And they were attacked, and they’re defending themselves. Now, this is a war. Do you think Hamas needs to be destroyed? This is the question.

Hostin: Yes.

Maher: You do?

Hostin: Yes.

Maher: Okay.

Alyssa Farah Griffin: So, how do we do that with a ceasefire?

Maher: All right, so Hamas needs to be destroyed because they are a terrorist organization who have, who say openly that they want to commit genocide on the Jewish people, on the state of Israel. That’s what “from the river to the sea” means. Okay? And they say it very openly. They said, “We did this attack.” They’ve attacked the Israel five times. They’ve started five wars since they were given that land back. They could have chosen to turn that place into any place they wanted to. And they took a lot of money that they took from the international community, and they spent it on bombs and guns and building tunnels. So if they need to be destroyed, how do we do that? It’s a war. I don’t know how to do that, and you don’t know how to do that. I assume the Israeli Defense–

Hostin: But are you concerned about the innocent lives?

Maher: Of course, everybody is, but that’s what happens in a war. Here’s a way to stop that: stop attacking Israel.

Joy Behar: And stop calling for the annihilation of Israel and the Jews. They’re calling for the annihilation of the Jews. And so you can’t really defend that on the other side very easily.

Watch the video above via ABC.