Jon Stewart opened The Daily Show on Tuesday by mocking the Republican-heavy Congress for giving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not just a warm welcome, but nearly 20 minutes of applause for his much-ballyhooed appearance.
"Whether or not Netanyahu achieved his goals of sabotaging a deal with Iran or mistakenly opened up a rift in U.S.-Israeli relations, one thing is certain," Stewart observed. "The in-chamber response to this speech was by far the longest bl*wjob a Jewish man has ever received."
Stewart pointed out that the speech, prompted by an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in January, came on the holy Jewish occasion known as "Suuk-On-It Mr. President."
"It was a festival of slights," he joked.
While poking fun at Netanyahu's claim that he spoke for not only Israel, but all Jews on Tuesday, Stewart acknowledged that, despite a sour reception from President Barack Obama, the prime minister's appearance demonstrated how powerful Israel is.
"[Netanyahu] comes here, publicly slaps Obama in the face, and the president's response is, 'It's OK, everyone should know I'm buying him gloves so when he hits me, it doesn't hurt his hand as much,'" Stewart said.
However, Stewart said, Obama had a point when he said that the GOP would not have been as welcoming had Democrats invited the prime minister of France to criticize then-President George W. Bush's case for war against Iraq.
"They would've gone f*cking bananas," Stewart argued. "Republicans would have demanded the inviters be arrested for sedition and treason. For God's sakes, just for France not joining our coalition, Republicans officially had the word 'French' removed from Capitol Building fries."
Watch Stewart's commentary, as posted online on Tuesday, below.
