The Australian audience laughed and applauded as the Jewish comedian put down the man repeatedly.
By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News
Standup comedian and actor Jerry Seinfeld drew laughter and applause after mocking an anti-Israel heckler who interrupted his show in Sydney, Australia Sunday night.
“We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen, he solved the Middle East! He solved it! It’s the Jewish comedians, that’s what we have to get, they’re the ones doing everything,” Seinfeld called out over his microphone as the man was escorted out of a packed Qudos Bank Arena by security.
While the heckler, dressed in black, shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as he left, people could be heard shouting back, “Get out,” and Seinfeld added, “They’re going to start punching you in about three seconds, so I would try and get all of your genius out so that we can all learn from you.”
As people cheered, he went on, “It’s a comedy show, you moron, get out of here.”
“You’re really influencing everyone here,” he mocked, “we’re all on your side now because you have made your point so well, and in the right venue, you’ve come to the right place for a political conversation.”
The audience laughed again as he noted, “Tomorrow we’re gonna read in the paper, ‘Middle East, 100% solved thanks to man at the Qudos Arena stopping Jew comedian, they stopped him,’ and everyone in the Middle East just said, ‘Oh my God, let’s just get along, we can’t do that.’”
The Australian Jewish Association, whose CEO Robert Gregory posted the clip of Seinfeld putting the man in his place, had publicized Thursday that anti-Israel protests were being planned for the show because the comedian is “a big ziono.”
Seinfeld has been outspoken in his support for Israel following the Hamas invasion and massacre on October 7, 2023 which sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
He also visited Israel in December, touring ravaged kibbutzim in the Gazan envelope and speaking with freed hostages as well as survivors of what was equivalent in the Jewish state to thirteen 9/11 terror attacks, with 1,200 people slaughtered, including the elderly and infants.
Months later, he called it “The most powerful experience of my life” in an interview with Bari Weiss, and choked up when asked why, saying eventually, “You know.”
The comedian has been targeted numerous times over his pro-Israel stance. Pro-Hamas demonstrators have rallied outside his shows and he has been jeered when spotted on the streets of his native New York.
Last month, a group of students demonstrably walked out on his commencement speech at Duke University while waving Palestinian flags and shouting, “Free, free Palestine.”