The well-known comedian cannot understand how Israel can yet again fall into the trap of appeasing terrorists – which is how he sees the current “disengagement plan.” “At a certain point you have to put a limit to it. You can’t endlessly keep trying and trying and giving them the benefit of the doubt at the expense of your own lives,” he said. “If you lived across the street from me and kept bombing my building over and over again – am I gonna keep letting you live there? I would go in there and blow up the building, plus you, and get you out of there. I see no choice. Why did America see no choice in Afghanistan? Does America have more of a right to exist than Israel does? Why could America go to Afghanistan and kill every terrorist it could find there?”

Mason is close with many Israeli politicians but says he had a falling out with some of them over his politics. “I had a big argument with Shimon Peres about this,” he said. “I said ‘The man is a murderer, why do we have to keep negotiating with him? You got a Nobel Peace Prize with him and that makes you a simple-minded naive character.’”

Asked by Singer what he had to say to the people of Israel, Mason said all he had was admiration for those who choose to follow the Jewish destiny and live in the Land of Israel. “I don’t think the Jews of Israel have to find out from a comedian why there is Israel and what their purpose, mission and pride is.”