People are praising Piers Morgan, one of the UK's most famous talk-show hosts, for what they say is his relatively nuanced take on Israel's Gaza war, after he confronted Israeli former Prime Minister Ehud Barak with tough questions regarding his country's deadly campaign against Palestinian civilians.
The Ehud Barak interview comes shortly after Piers Morgan interviewed Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef, who deployed a mix of sarcasm and dark humour to 'educate' his host Morgan on the plight of Palestinians that doesn't receive the same attention from many Western media as the stories of Israeli civilians caught in the war.
The interview with Bassem Youssef went viral, garnering 17 million views and counting.
Piers Morgan and Bassem Youssef are reportedly preparing for a follow-up face-to-face interview, possibly including a debate with pro-Israel commentator Ben Shapiro.
Bassem Youssef is an Egyptian comedian and television host who hosted El-Bernameg (The Show), a satirical Egyptian political news program, from 2011 to 2014 after Egypt's revolution. He previously appeared on Jon Stewart's Daily Show in a cameo role and is a trained physician.
In this discussion, Bassem addressed several key points about the current war. He mentioned the common perception used by Israeli propaganda to justify civilian casualties in Gaza because Hamas uses them as 'human shields'. Bassem also questions the idea that Israel is the only military force that warns civilians before bombings, raising doubts about the real options people have during mass attacks to flee, a point Morgan put later to Ehud Barak.
He pointed out the disproportionate casualty rate in conflicts involving Israel and Gaza, emphasizing the need to consider the "exchange rate for human lives" in reference to the disproportionality in numbers of Israeli vs Palestinian victims, always skewed in the direction of Palestinians.
As a TV host, Piers Morgan had a successful career that included hosting the ITV talk show "Piers Morgan's Life Stories" from 2009 to 2020 and the CNN talk show "Piers Morgan Live" from 2011 to 2014.
He also served as a judge on the talent shows "America's Got Talent" from 2006 to 2011 and "Britain's Got Talent" from 2007 to 2010.
In 2008, Morgan emerged as the winner of "The Celebrity Apprentice US," where he appeared alongside future US President Donald Trump. As of 2022, he has taken on a hosting role for TalkTV in the program "Piers Morgan Uncensored."
Piers interviewed former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday, where he, unlike in the interview with Bassem, took the role of Palestine advocate.
Barak posed the question why the citizens of Gaza are not leaving the areas Israel announced it is going to bomb, to which Morgan responded, "It may be because it's their home."
"These are their houses, this is where all their possessions are,' he pointed out.
Social media commentators sarcastically wondered if Piers' position in the episode was the result of his interview with Bassem.