John Oliver pokes fun at Netanyahus' spending

Late night comedian mocks Sara Netanyahu, "Israel's Marie Antoinette."

By AMY SPIRO
Updated: FEBRUARY 20, 2018 04:32
John Oliver - Netanyahu's Corruption Charges (Credit: consumer/YouTube)
Late night comedian and TV host John Oliver returned with his HBO show Sunday night after a long break. And he dived in right away to the scandal-plagued Netanyahu family.
In the latest episode of his show, Last Week Tonight, Oliver reported on the police recommendation that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted for bribery, fraud and other charges, in part for allegedly accepting hundreds of thousands of shekels of bribes in the form of cigars and champagne.
Oliver brought up the Netanyahu story on a world tour of political scandal, stopping in South Africa and Australia as a “palate cleanser” before discussing the Trump administration.
“While he denies these charges, Netanyahu and his wife do have famously extravagant tastes,” Oliver said. “She’s been dubbed ‘Israel’s Marie Antoinette,’ which is both a harsh criticism and an objectively chic bat mitzva theme.”
The comedian then went through a greatest hits list of the criticisms leveled against the Netanyahu family – including spending on ice cream and scented candles and outfitting a plane with a bed to fly to the UK for Margaret Thatcher’s funeral (none of which are related to the recommended indictment).
Oliver then played a clip from the infamous 2015 interview that interior designer and TV star Moshik Galamin conducted with Sara Netanyahu during a tour of the Prime Minister’s Residence.
“The whole thing is in pretty bad taste,” said Oliver, “although there is one moment that really elevates it. See if you can spot it.”
That moment? When Galamin thumps on a cupboard in the dining room and remarks: “I think Anne Frank is hiding here in the back.”
To this, Oliver couldn’t help but wonder what everyone else has been thinking: “So apparently, at no point in the editing process for that did anyone – even in the Prime Minister’s Office, or elsewhere – say that all looks great, maybe lose the Anne Frank joke.”