Israeli officials have apologized to the NBC television network after making anti-Semitic jokes at a Saturday Night Live program, aimed at the Israeli coronavirus vaccination campaign.
In the “Weekend Update” section, comedian Michael Che said that while Israel boasts about “vaccinating half of their population, I’m going to assume that it is the Jewish half that it is. “
Israeli Ambassador to the United States and the United Nations Gilad Erdan said such a joke persists against Semitism.
“Your ‘joke’ is ignorant – the fact that the success of our vaccination campaign is simply because every citizen of Israel – Jewish, Muslim, Christian – has a right to it. Excuse me! “he said on his Twitter account.
More than two-thirds of Israeli Arab citizens over 60 have already been vaccinated.
The American Jewish Committee also launched a petition, saying that the SNL skit is not “just a deceptive, dangerous, modern version of a classic anti-Semitic trope that has encouraged countless mass murders through the ages.”
“In the Middle Ages, thousands of suspects were shot at the stake after being blamed for the Black Death on charges of defending only themselves. In the 20th century, the Nazis accused them of spreading disease and seized that lie to justify crimes in ghettos and the massacre of European Jews, ”the AJC said.
The group urged the TV network to withdraw the SNL statement and apologize.
“Words have virtues, and they tend to be in jeopardy when a major American TV company enters those who claim that Israel favors only a fraction of its citizens the commendable efforts, on its own. recommended by Dr. Anthony Fauci and others, to vaccinate all its residents. “
The pro-Israel advocacy group StandWithUs also criticized the controversial joke.
This isn’t the first time co-host Che Weekend Update has been on fire for reports that were seen as anti-Semitic.
In May last year, at a time about Go Daddy closing down “Miss Hitler Beauty Pageant,” the comedian ended the comedy with the assumption that “Miss Israel won the controversial label.”