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Jewish Actor Jon Lovitz Slams Talk Show Host John Oliver for Criticizing US Support for Israel
John Oliver in the Nov. 12 episode of his HBO show “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” Photo: Screenshot
Jewish-American comedian and actor Jon Lovitz reprimanded British talk show host John Oliver this week after the latter criticized the United States on his HBO show for supporting Israel and the alleged “suffering” the Jewish state has caused among Palestinians in Gaza during its ongoing war against Hamas terrorists.
Lovitz wrote in a post on X/Twitter that the US would of course support its “democratic ally” Israel over a terrorist organization — Hamas — that perpetrated the deadly Oct. 7 massacre in southern Israel “so they could start a never-ending war with Israel and annihilate Israel and then Jews all over the world.” He concluded the post by saying, “God bless America. #IstandwithIsrael.”
In a separate post, the Three Amigos! star shared a link to an article headlined, “Hamas terrorists confess to raping corpses, beheading children.” Lovitz told Oliver, “Please talk about this on your next show.”
Lovitz has been strongly supportive on social media of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas since the Oct. 7 atrocities, in which Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took over 240 others as hostages, most of whom are still in captivity.
After Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) blasted the US last week for wanting to fund Israel’s “long-term military occupation over an already battered and impoverished people,” Lovitz challenged the lawmaker in a post on X.
“Well, you’ve done a great job at keeping peace in the region,” the actor wrote sarcastically. “They don’t want peace. They want to kill all Israelis … Are you really this naive?”
During the most recent episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver on Nov. 12, Oliver gave an opening monologue that focused on the Israel-Hamas war. He said Israel has launched a “siege” of Gaza in retaliation for the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks and then slammed America for backing Israel and giving it military aid over the years. He accused the US of being “heavily implicated” in why Palestinians are suffering in the Gaza Strip, and commented that the “made in America” slogan Americans are so “proud of” is being tied to “stuff that’s killing people.”
“Collective punishment is a war crime,” Oliver added, referring to Israel’s military operations in the Gaza Strip. He blamed the Jewish state for the “relentless bombings of civilians” and made allegations about Israel’s actions towards Gaza before the war started.
“Israel’s approach to Gaza has been truly punishing,” he said. “Fencing people in, limiting exits, and trapping them inside what has been called an open-air prison … Life under a blockade there has been hard for a long time, even where there aren’t bombs flying.”
During his monologue he also said a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas “has to be the first step” in currently bringing peace to the Middle East, criticizing the leadership of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and backhandedly calling Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan as “asshole.”
“I don’t want to say anything to deny the pain of those in Israel who have lost loved ones to a truly barbarous act or who are waiting anxiously for the return of hostages,” he further noted. “[But] it has to be possible to feel the pain in one community without denying it in another.”
The Nov. 12 episode of Oliver’s show did not air as scheduled in Israel due to a “technical mishap,” a spokesperson for the Israeli television company Yes told the New York Post on Thursday. Yes said the episode is instead available for viewing on its “video on-demand” platform. The New York Post said the company declined to comment on an Israeli news report citing a Facebook post from Yes’ official social media page that accused Oliver of parroting “Hamas propaganda.”
The post Jewish Actor Jon Lovitz Slams Talk Show Host John Oliver for Criticizing US Support for Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.