Bill Maher asks Benjamin Netanyahu if Israel ‘will retaliate’ against Kanye West

Bill Maher jokingly asked former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week if Israel would “retaliate” against Kanye West, in the wake of the musician’s anti-Semitic Twitter rant.

“You didn’t miss a lot. My first question, Kanye West this week has said ‘I’m a bit sleepy tonight, but when I wake up, I’m going ‘death con 3’ on Jewish people.” Maher said. “Will Israel retaliate?”

The longtime and controversial Israeli pol laughed at the question before offering a serious response.

“You know, anti-Semitism is the longest hatred in history. It goes back thousands of years. We’ve dealt with bigger problems than than these stupidities. But, you know, the communists blame the Jews for being capitalist, the capitalists blame the Jews for being communists. Do you have a problem? Blame the Jews,” he said.

“It’s old stuff. It shouldn’t have any place in civilized discourse,” Netanyahu continued.

“And that’s the reason we establish the Jewish state. So the Jewish people would have defense against these absurdities, and sometimes they’re coupled with violence. We don’t let that happen again,” he said, prompting sustained applause.