Jon Stewart Criticizes Israel’s ‘De-escalation Through Escalation’ Strategy

Jon Stewart called out the “cognitive dissonance and language calisthenics” used when describing Israel‘s attacks against Hezbollah. On Monday’s episode, the Daily Show host offered a “golden soundbite” to explain how “fucking convoluted this has to be.”

He then rolled video of Axios’ politics and foreign policy reporter Barak Ravid on CNN. “What the Israeli government is saying — and the Biden administration is in many ways subscribed to this idea — is de-escalation through escalation,” said Ravid in the clip.

Stewart likened his calculated words to World War II before pondering, “De-escalation through escalation, where have I heard,” and holding up George Orwell’s dystopic 1984, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, and Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack comics. “John, that cat has wrecked havoc on your bachelor lifestyle,” the host joked.

Elsewhere, Stewart criticized President Joe Biden over the United States’ claim that it is “tirelessly working” toward a ceasefire in Gaza. After playing various clips of Biden promising “We’re close,” Stewart noted that in one clip, Biden is eating ice cream. After grabbing a cone himself, Stewart nearly dropped it when a clip of Israel launching an assault on Hezbollah in Lebanon played.

“Wait! We’ve been working tirelessly towards a ceasefire in Gaza and they’re in fucking Lebanon?” he exclaims.

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On Sept. 17 and 18, pagers and small electronic devices belonging to members of Hezbollah exploded across Lebanon. The operation, allegedly carried out by the Israeli intelligence service Mossad, killed at least 10 people — including one child — and injured thousands, according to reports from the Lebanese health ministry. 

Following the deadly attack, Israeli launched strikes Monday on Lebanon and killed more than 490 people, including more than 90 women and children, said Lebanese authorities, per The Associated Press. The Israeli military issued a warning to residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate as it expands its airstrikes against Hezbollah.