Joe the Plumber has traded in his tool belt for a reporter's microphone and notepad, taking on the job of war correspondent in Israel for a right-wing website.

Joe the War Correspondent, real name Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, rose to minor celebrity status in 2008 after he argued with Barack Obama about the Democrat's tax plan during the U.S. presidential campaign. Wurzelbacher is now covering the Gaza offensive from the southern Israeli town of Sderot for pjtv.com.

Curiously, considering his new job, he doesn't think that the media should cover war and instead would prefer a return to World War Two reporting, with the public watching weeks-old war footage in theatres.

"To be honest with ya, I don't think journalists should be (allowed) anywhere near . . . war," Wurzelbacher told other reporters in the Israeli town of Sderot. "You guys report where our troops are at, what's happening day-to-day, you make a big deal out of it. I think it's asinine.

"I like back in World War One and World War Two when you go to the theatre and you'd see your troops on the screen and everyone be really excited and happy for them."

"Now, everyone's got an opinion," he added.

Wurzelbacher added that "war is hell and if you're going to sit there and say, 'Look at this atrocity,' well, you don't know the full story behind it half the time, so I think the media should have no business in it."

Joe defends Israel

Citizens of Sderot "can't do normal things day to day" like wash their hair, because of the fear of Hamas' rockets, the former plumber said.

"I'm sure they're taking quick showers," he said. "I know I would."

While touring a facility of spent rockets with the head of the Government Press Office, Danny Seaman, and an official government photographer, Wurzelbacher provided smiles for the veteran journalists watching him at work.

"I have thousands of questions but I can't think of the right one," he said at the start of his interview with Seaman.

While he may have had difficulty finding the right question, he did have a lot of anger for those criticizing Israel for the offensive into Gaza that has killed more than 870 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis have died since the military operation began, four by rocket attacks.

"Why hasn't Israel acted sooner?" Wurzelbacher asked. "I know if I were a citizen here, I'd be damned upset."

Calling himself a "peace-loving man," Wurzelbacher added, "(but) when someone hits me, I'm going to unload on the boy. And if the rest of the world doesn't understand that, then I'm sorry."

Wurzelbacher said he took the job to cover the war because he was an "expert on media bias."

"I was on the short end of the stick," he said, comparing his situation to Israel's.

He complained that the full story of Israel's operations in Gaza isn't being reported and the mainstream media are demonizing Israel.

"It's asinine when someone is firing upon you and the world is coming down on you," he said. "Common sense has gone out the window."

It is Wurzelbacher's first trip to Israel. He said that he has been "embraced" by Israel because "they know I have no agenda but the truth."

Western reporters said that while the appearance of America's most famous plumber might have caused a strange look or two among the press pool, Israeli citizens at a busy cafe did not seem to recognize him.

To Israelis who managed to avoid some of the ridiculous sideshow on the U.S. presidential campaign trail, he's just a Regular Joe.

With files from The Associated Press