Eretz Nehederet, Israel’s popular comedy show, was back on Wednesday night on Channel 12, once again finding ways to laugh at the tension in the Middle East and the political chaos in Israel.
In the wake of the Next Star for Eurovision contest finally choosing Israel’s contestant for the song contest this week, the comedy show had been running promos all week, saying that the real competition wasn’t Eurovision, but that it would be the competition between US President Donald Trump (played by Omar Etzion, whose Trump impersonation seems to get better, and funnier, every week) and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei over who would be “The Next Star for the Middle East.”
Host Eyal Kitzis spoke about the continuing tensions among Iran, Israel, and the US, and then called Trump, who was relaxing on an aircraft carrier on alert in the Persian Gulf, lounging around in his bathrobe as if he were on a yacht. Trump spoke by phone with Khamenei, who assured him that he had restored the internet and that all was well. and Trump praised his own peacemaking prowess, kvelling, “Donald did it again!” But then, Khamenei said, “Bye, chicken!” Trump wasn’t happy, warning the Iranian, “Nobody calls me chicken!”
Threatening to wipe Khamenei off the face of the earth, he called in his secret weapon, singer Nasreen Kadri, an Israeli Arab who converted to Judaism. Kadri was involved this week in a flap that Kitzis referenced throughout the show, after freed hostage Rom Braslavski alleged that her boyfriend attacked him outside a Tel Aviv nightclub. According to a recording obtained by KAN, when Kadri called to apologize to Braslavski for her boyfriend’s behavior, he said that he was still going to speak out about the incident, and she told him, "If you want to make a mess, and I'll make a mess and we'll make a mess, all of us, none of us will come out of this, not you, not me, not anyone,” which is exactly what she told Khamenei. Spooked, Khamenei backed down, saying he was returning to his bunker.
The real Trump made a second appearance on the show, in a segment of news clips, in which he called various world leaders “tough cookies,” including Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He even called a dog “a tough cookie.”
This week’s show also spent a lot of time making fun of the inability of the opposition politicians to unite, despite former chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot’s announcement this week that he would like to merge his party with the parties headed by former prime ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid. Israel Beitenu head Avigdor Liberman sat with them, but former defense minister Benny Gantz was way on the other side of the table. It turned out that Yair Golan, leader of the further-left political party, The Democrats, was trying to reach them, but they had deliberately given him the wrong location.
Eurovision, Israel's A-G, and the Turkish president
The Next Star for Eurovision finale was extensively mocked during the show, with the judges criticizing each other and all their choices.
The episode opened with Israel’s attorney general, Gali Baharav Miara, who has been accused of everything that is wrong in the country by members of the governing coalition, wearily taking the blame for every bad thing that has happened in Israel and around the world, including the fact that Deni Avdija was not chosen for the NBA All-Star team.
The show also lampooned Trump’s Board of Peace, as Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan put on a fez and took his place on the board, praising Trump’s initiative to end the war in Gaza. A Qatari official, also a board member, handed a suitcase of cash to a Hamas fighter, thanking the Israeli Prime Minister. The Hamas fighter then handed his weapon to the Qatari who gave it right back to the Hamas member.
At the end, the relaxed but often bemused host said he hoped to be back in a week, although he wasn’t sure because everything still depends on Trump, but he reminded viewers that we still have a “Wonderful Country,” the English translation of the show’s title.