Israel just held a remarkable democratic election. Nearly 78% of eligible voters cast ballots, one of the highest turnouts in decades. Arab citizens of Israel exercised their right to vote, and Arab parties won an unprecedented 19 seats in Israel’s 120-member Knesset.
That is a remarkable demonstration of democracy in the Middle East’s only Jewish state.
And what did Michael Che of NBC’s Saturday Night Live have to say about it?
During “Weekend Update,” he “joked” that Israeli voters could be on the right, on the left or on the side of “the genocide.”
And the audience laughed.
Well, I didn’t.
Comedy has its limits
Let me acknowledge something before I continue. I’ve watched Saturday Night Live for years. I understand what “Weekend Update” is all about. Michael Che and Colin Jost aren’t Walter Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley. (Yes, I’m dating myself!)
They’re comedians, not news anchors. Their job is to poke fun at the week’s headlines, politicians and current events. Sometimes the jokes are clever. Sometimes they’re biting. Sometimes they fall flat.
That’s satire. I understand it. I’ve even used it in my own sermons.
But when genocide becomes a punch line, that’s not pushing the limits of comedy. That’s crossing the line of decency.
Israel’s election offered plenty of material for satire. Instead, Che reached for one of the most horrifying accusations that can be leveled against any nation and played it for laughs.
Genocide.
A word carrying the weight of humanity’s darkest crimes, casually tossed into a joke as though the charge against Israel were a fact beyond dispute.
And then came Variety.
Amplifying the charge
The influential entertainment publication reported on the segment with the headline: “SNL Weekend Update Finally Weighs in on Israel.”
Finally?
Were we all waiting for Michael Che to enlighten us about Israel? Was this supposed to be some long-awaited contribution to the conversation?
I don’t object to Variety reporting on what happens on Saturday Night Live. That’s its job. But Variety didn’t just report on Che’s joke. It took an accusation against Israel, dressed it up as entertainment and helped spread it to an even wider audience.
Let me be clear. Israel is not above criticism. The suffering of innocent Palestinians is heartbreaking, and their lives matter, too.
But no honest discussion of this conflict can ignore the horrors of Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists murdered approximately 1,200 people and took hostages into Gaza. Hamas’s founding charter explicitly calls for Israel’s destruction and contains unmistakably antisemitic language.
Does any of that matter to the writers of Saturday Night Live?
I don’t know whether Michael Che is antisemitic. I don’t pretend to know what’s in his heart.
But I know what came out of his mouth.
And I know that when accusations against Israel become so commonplace that they can be tossed into a joke and received with laughter, something is terribly wrong.
As a rabbi, I have spent my life teaching that words matter. They can educate or mislead, heal or wound, illuminate truth or obscure it.
I’m not advocating censorship. I’m demanding accountability.
Michael Che has every right to tell his jokes. But NBC has a responsibility for what it broadcasts. And Variety should be held accountable for helping spread what I regard as an ugly lie about Israel.
Shame on Michael Che. Shame on NBC. And shame on Variety.
And shame on us if we remain silent.