In a series of intense interviews on MSNBC's Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough confronted Israeli officials, including Economy Minister Nir Barkat, over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the Hamas situation in Israel. Scarborough questioned the logic behind Netanyahu's actions, particularly his decision to allow Hamas to receive funding from Qatar before the attacks in Israel on October 7, despite acknowledging Hamas's extremist ideologies. Scarborough's pointed questions included, "Did PM Netanyahu always know that Hamas were Nazis?" to which Barkat responded, "Yes." Scarborough then pressed, "Then why did he fund them?" The discussions highlighted Scarborough's frustration with Netanyahu's approach to Hamas, which he described as enabling the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust. The Israeli officials' responses ranged from defensive to acknowledging the complexity of the situation.
EXPLOSIVE: @MSNBC @JoeNBC debates Israeli economic minister @NirBarkat over Netanyahu telling Qatar to fund Hamas before the attack in Israel. WATCH https://t.co/po6MnOC1P4
Strong & sustained questioning on Netanyahu’s failures from a visibly angry @JoeNBC. “This is not the time to interrogate,” says the defensive Israeli economy minister in response. Oh. Yes. It. Is. https://t.co/BrjrrjCj70
What is interesting in this clip is nepo baby Willy Geist badgering an Israeli official about famine and then immediately cutting to Scarborough badgering that same Israeli official about why Netanyahu didn’t demand Qatar cut off all funding for Hamas pre-Oct. 7 https://t.co/jluauyfenu
#BREAKING: 🚨🚨Morning Joe DESTROYS Nir Barkat (Israel's Economy Minister) in this INCREDIBLE EXCHANGE. Morning Joe: Does Israel view Hamas as Nazis? Nir Barkat: YES. Morning Joe: 🚨🚨"SO THEN Why did Netanyahu send the head of Mossad to Doha 3 weeks before October 7th and told… https://t.co/0858diXbmy
Wow! @JoeNBC ripped @NirBarkat and PM Netanyahu a new one on MJ this morning. Joe Scarborough: Did PM Netanyahu always know that Hamas were Nazis? Israeli Deputy Minister Nir Barkat: Yes. Joe Scarborough: Then why did he fund them? ——— Folks are tired of hearing the same… https://t.co/b1H5Zhi3tb
"Why would you allow [Netanyahu] to continue running your country when he is responsible for Hamas being able to run loose in Israel and commit the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust?" — @JoeNBC on PM Netanyahu's lack of response to attacks https://t.co/fx4MjY1dTi