Bill Maher: “Israel is the Jews’ homeland, Jews have always lived there" | WATCH 

In a fiery segment on his HBO show *Real Time with Bill Maher*, comedian and political commentator Bill Maher doubled down on his long-standing support for Israel, declaring, “Israel is the Jews’ homeland, and Jews have always lived there. You can look it up. It’s in this book called the Bible. Calling Jews colonizers is like calling Native Americans colonizers here. It’s ridiculous.” The statement, widely circulated on social media platforms like X, encapsulates Maher’s rejection of narratives framing Israel as a colonial state, explaining instead that Jewish historical ties to the land, dating back to roughly 1200 BCE, legitimize its existence.

Maher, raised Catholic but with a Jewish mother, has consistently championed Israel’s right to exist while critiquing its adversaries. In a 2012 interview with *The Jewish Journal*, he defended Israel’s military restraint, saying, “Stop firing rockets into Israel and perhaps they won’t annihilate you,” while also endorsing a two-state solution.

More recently, in a 2023 *Real Time* monologue, he urged Palestinians to accept Israel’s permanence, citing its economic and military dominance, and dismissed the slogan “from the river to the sea” as a fantasy of Israel’s destruction.

Yet, Maher has noted that many Israelis favor a two-state resolution, distancing themselves from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline policies.

Maher’s atheism informs his secular defense of Israel, rooted more in historical claims than religious dogma.

He may have said it in 2024, but it's as true today as it was then, and as it was thousands of years ago.