Jon Stewart looks at Netanyahu's win and sees America

Jon Stewart recaps Israeli's election
(Image credit: The Daily Show)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu veered to the right at the end of his successful re-election campaign, vowing he will never allow a Palestinian state and warning conservative Israeli Jews that his center-left opponents were bussing Arabs to the polls. "How dare you," Jon Stewart said on Wednesday night's Daily Show. "How dare you gin up racist fears of minority voters for short-term political gain. That's our thing."

At The Atlantic, James Fallows sees Netanyahu's victory as similar to George W. Bush's in 2004. But Stewart uses Mitt Romney to make his point. "That's the real message that last night sent for all politicians," Stewart said, getting cynically philosophical. "You know that stuff you say in private, your core beliefs and prejudices that you try to hide from people because you fear society will shun you? Well, it appears all you have to do is turn into that skid." For Romney, that would have meant owning his "47 percent" comments — and Jordan Klepper does just that for him. Watch below. —Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.