Canadian authorities detained Israeli comedian Guy Hochman for six hours at Toronto’s main airport after an anti-Israel organization filed war crimes charges against him in connection with his service in the Israel Defense Forces, Hochman said on Tuesday.
“They tried to stop me from entering Canada, but after 6 hours of being detained, I got in. They tried to prevent me from performing in front of the Israeli community, I performed. And while they kept shouting ‘free Palestine’ to themselves in minus 10 degrees, we warmed up with laughter—400 Israelis inside. That’s what victory feels like,” Hochman wrote on X.
On Friday, the Hind Rajab Foundation said it was “filing a criminal complaint in Canada against Guy Hochman, an Israeli comedian who is acting as a war propagandist and inciter, promoting violence and glorifying Israel’s assault on Gaza” ahead of his visit to Toronto.
At time of publication, the Canadian embassy in Israel had not replied to a query about Hochman’s alleged detention, and the connection, if any, to the Hind Rajab Foundation’s complaint.
In a video uploaded by Hochman to X, he is seen in Toronto talking to people carrying Israeli flags as anti-Israel protesters chant from across the road.
Borrowing a megaphone from the people with Israeli flags, he told the anti-Israel protesters: “I am here, I am Guy Hochman, thank you for coming. This is our flag. We are here, we are part of a 3,000-year-old people, and we are here always, am Israel chai,” Hebrew for “the People of Israel lives.”
The clip features humorous subtitles, supposedly translating what the anti-Israel protesters are shouting, as: “You bring this sex symbol, a brother with only one testicle, into our street. The entire world stands with plasticine.”
Hochman was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2023 and had one of his testicles removed, a fact that has featured prominently in his standup and public appearances. He has also cited it in raising awareness of the importance of early detection of testicular cancer and other forms of the disease.
In Israel, Hochman is best known for his viral videos in which he spoofs political rallies—often left-wing ones—by conducting on-the-fly, tongue-in-cheek interviews in which he teases his interlocutors.
Hochman, 37, served in the Nahal Infantry Brigade, where he was deployed to Judea and Samaria as well as the border with Gaza. He also served for years in the IDF reserves. After Oct. 7, 2023, he began performing for troops as part of his reserve service.
Hochman (who is not an officer) has declared himself the IDF’s “Chief Smile Officer,” or “ktzin chiuch rashi,” a pun on the Hebrew-language title of the Chief Education Officer. The title does not officially exist, but the army has gone along with the joke, sometimes referring to Hochman by his preferred title in official publications and announcements about his shows on military bases.
