Visiting Israel after the Oct. 7 atrocities “was the most powerful experience of my life,” American Jewish comedian Jerry Seinfeld said in an interview with journalist Bari Weiss released on Tuesday.
The 70-year-old Brooklynite became visibly emotional during that segment of the sit-down talk in Southern California, struggling to speak about his experiences during his December solidarity trip to the Jewish state, in which he toured Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the Gaza border communities whose residents were murdered during Hamas’s onslaught on the northwestern Negev.
On the trip with his wife, Jessica Sklar, Seinfeld met freed hostages and survivors of the Oct. 7 massacre.
Asked by Weiss if he was thinking of someone in particular, Seinfeld nodded his head in the affirmative as his eyes watered, apologizing for getting choked up while taking out a tissue.
.@JerrySeinfeld on visiting Israel after October 7: “The most powerful experience of my life.”
— Honestly with Bari Weiss (@thehonestlypod) May 28, 2024
Listen to his full, wide-ranging conversation with @BariWeiss now: https://t.co/W5Y0aqEj75 pic.twitter.com/EoOZ1d72O4
The 30-minute interview was for “Honestly with Bari Weiss” from The Free Press.
They also discussed Seinfeld’s experiences of being hounded by anti-Israel protesters several times since Oct. 7, including students marching out while chanting “Free, free Palestine” before he received an honorary degree during Duke University’s commencement celebration earlier this month.
The comedian said that he loved that the young people are trying to get engaged with politics by expressing an intense rage but that “it is so silly,” saying that “they are a little off target” and “we have to correct their aim a little bit.”
“They don’t seem to understand that as comedians we really don’t control anything.”
Seinfeld expressed support for Israel a few days after the Oct. 7 massacre, writing on his Instagram account that he has “loved the Jewish homeland” since working at Kibbutz Sa’ar in the Western Galilee at the age of 16.
“My heart is breaking from these attacks and atrocities. But we are also a very strong people in our hearts and minds. We believe in justice, freedom and equality. We survive and flourish no matter what. I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people,” he said.
Watch the full interview:
