AceShowbiz - "The Daily Show" show's host Jon Stewart returned to host his program on Monday and launched a blistering critique of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's handling of the conflict with Lebanon's Hezbollah. Referring to Netanyahu's claim that he would not tolerate "wanton rocketing" of Israel, Stewart questioned the Prime Minister's own actions, saying, "What makes you think they're going to accept your rocketing or whatever other James Bond s**t you've been up to?"

Stewart likened Israel's remote explosion of pagers and walkie-talkies aimed at Hezbollah to something out of a 1980s Bond film, a notion that drew uproarious applause from the audience. He joked that Lebanon should retaliate with a pixelated green-and-white arcade shooting game from the same era.

Furthermore, Stewart criticized the "cognitive dissonance and language calisthenics" employed to describe the crisis, citing Israel's "de-escalation through escalation" tactic. He illustrated this point by showing copies of George Orwell's 1984, Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, and the comic book collection Garfield Fat Cat 3-Pack.

"Though I do take issue with one of Garfield's bromides: I happen to love Mondays. It's the start and end of every work week. Though I hear Fridays are nice," he quipped sarcastically.

Stewart also critiqued the U.S. government's claim that it is "tirelessly working" toward a ceasefire, while the Lebanon attack has already escalated the conflict into a "wider war." Some, including ex-CIA director Leon Panetta, have condemned the attack as an act of "terrorism."