Prominent Jewish comedian Seinfeld describes Israel wartime visit as the 'most powerful experience' in his life
The American-Jewish celebrity comedian Jerry Seinfeld recently described his solidarity visit to Israel in December as “the most powerful experience of my life, I’m sure.”
Seinfeld who is normally known for comedy and laughter, became visibly emotional during his interview with The Free Press journalist, Bari Weiss, during an interview.
When asked whether he was thinking about a specific person, Seinfeld almost began crying, saying “sorry” while taking out a tissue to dry his eyes.
Seinfeld and his wife Jessica Sklar visited Israel just a couple of months after the Hamas terror attack on Israel's southern border communities on Oct. 7. During their visit, the couple also visited the Kibbutz Be'eri, which was devastated by the Hamas invasion and massacre. More than 100 of its civilian residents were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists.
Yuval Haran, the son of the murdered Beeri resident Avshalom, said he was very moved by the famous American comedian’s decision to visit Beeri amid massive destruction and death.
“When I heard that Seinfeld was coming to the kibbutz, it really moved me,” Haran recalled. “He is one of the characters that my father really appreciated, and I can’t count the number of times we would sit together and watch Seinfeld.”
During the interview, Seinfeld criticized the large number of young anti-Israel protesters at U.S. college campuses and beyond.
“It’s so dumb. When we get protesters occasionally, I love to say to the audience, ‘You know I love that these young people are trying to get engaged with politics, we just have to correct their aim a little bit,'” Seinfeld said. “They don’t seem to understand as comedians we really don’t control anything,” he added.
The famous Jewish comedian also commented on the recent incident in New York City where anti-Israel demonstrators accused him of being a “Nazi scum” and “genocide supporter” due to his support for the Jewish state.
“It’s so silly. They want to express this sincere, intense rage but again, a little off target,” Seinfeld stated.
Last year, Seinfeld recalled his first visit to Israel as a teenager when he lived and worked in Kibbutz Sa’ar in Western Galilee. “I have loved the Jewish homeland ever since working on a kibbutz at 16,” Seinfeld wrote on Instagram in December. “My heart is broken by the atrocities, but we are strong in heart and soul,” the famous comedian added.
Seinfeld told Weiss that his second visit to Israel strengthened his Jewish identity.
“The first time I went to Israel after I finished the show and saw the way they reacted to me, and I realized this is not just normal interaction of celebrity public interface, this is different,” Seinfeld recalled, referring to the embrace and warmth he received from the Israeli public
“I meant something, which I never knew and it gave me a wonderful feeling, like, oh, I didn’t realize what I was doing had another value that I didn’t know about, and I of course loved it,” he added.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
