On a late-autumn Saturday, as American voters prepared for their midterms, a comedian on a long-running television institution reached for a grim word to score a laugh about a distant election. The joke landed on a fault line that runs through both politics and memory, where the word genocide carries the weight of the Holocaust and the ongoing argument over Gaza. Advocacy groups and a conservative media watchdog answered with alarm, arguing that comedy's license does not extend to this terrain. The broadcaster's and the comedian's own account of the matter has not yet been heard, leaving the e
SNL's Michael Che Draws Backlash Over 'Genocide' Joke About Israel's Election Turnout
Critics granted it was a joke, but challenged its premise
Mark
What exactly did Che say, and why is it drawing attention?
Mimi
He said it was great that a record number of Israelis voted, whether you're on the right, the left, or "the genocide." Critics say that treats the genocide accusation as a settled punchline.
Luke
Worth noting the critics themselves granted it was a joke. The Campaign Against Antisemitism said comedy gets latitude. Their objection is to the premise.
Mark
And what is that objection?
Mimi
They call the genocide claim baseless and say it casts Jews as perpetrators of the crime done to them in the Holocaust. They also link it to abuse and violence against Jews.
Luke
That's their assessment, and the causal link to violence is their assertion. The article doesn't offer evidence for it or any counterargument.
Mark
What did Curtis Houck add?
Mimi
He said viewers likely don't know what genocide means, and that the segment could have pointed to Arab parties winning 19 Knesset seats instead.
Luke
That 19-seat figure is from preliminary results, projected, not final. And NewsBusters is a conservative watchdog, so it's a partisan critic, not a neutral one.
Mark
Is there a pattern with Che?
Mimi
In 2021 he joked about Israel's vaccination rollout, and the ADL and American Jewish Committee objected. The AJC said vaccines were available regardless of religion.
Luke
And we haven't heard from NBC or Che this time. Until we do, we only have one side of the reaction.
Il Polso
- A single line about Israel's record turnout became the spark for a sharp backlash just days before American midterms.
- Critics from the Campaign Against Antisemitism, NewsBusters, and the ADL say the word 'genocide' was used as a punchline and that the joke fuels antisemitism.
- Critics also resurface Che's 2021 vaccine joke, framing this as a pattern rather than a one-off misstep.
- NBC and Che have not responded, and the Israeli government and White House had not replied when the story was published, so the dispute remains one-sided.
On a late-autumn Saturday, as American voters prepared for their midterms, a comedian on a long-running television institution reached for a grim word to score a laugh about a distant election. The joke landed on a fault line that runs through both politics and memory, where the word genocide carries the weight of the Holocaust and the ongoing argument over Gaza. Advocacy groups and a conservative media watchdog answered with alarm, arguing that comedy's license does not extend to this terrain. The broadcaster's and the comedian's own account of the matter has not yet been heard, leaving the exchange unfinished.
On Saturday night, Michael Che sat at the Weekend Update desk on NBC's Saturday Night Live and took a jab at Israel's election. He noted that a record number of people had voted, which he said was great "regardless of if you're on the right side, or the left side, or the genocide." The line came in the middle of a segment that also targeted President Trump, JD Vance, and Republican messaging ahead of the midterms, and Colin Jost shared the desk.
The reaction came quickly. A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital that comedy has wide latitude, but that this joke's premise was the problem: it plays on a belief that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, a belief the group calls widespread but baseless. The group argued that such accusations cast Jews as perpetrators of the crime inflicted on them in the Holocaust, and said they have fueled violence against Jews worldwide.
Curtis Houck, managing editor of NewsBusters, agreed the joke was out of bounds. He suggested the segment could have aimed at the genocide accusations instead, pointing to Arab-led parties winning a combined 19 seats in the Knesset as proof of free and fair elections. He concluded that the word "genocide" should not be a punchline.
Critics also recalled Che's 2021 remark that Israel's vaccine rollout must have favored "the Jewish half" of the population, a comment the ADL and American Jewish Committee condemned. For now, NBC and Che have not publicly answered the latest criticism, and the reply that would complete the story is still missing.
On Saturday night's broadcast of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," Michael Che sat at the "Weekend Update" desk and made a remark about Israel's election that has since drawn criticism from advocacy groups and a conservative media watchdog. "This week, a record number of people voted in Israel's election, which is great to see regardless of if you're on the right side, or the left side, or the genocide," he said.
Che delivered the line alongside co-host Colin Jost. The same segment also took aim at President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Republican messaging ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections. The Israel joke was one beat in a broader run of political material.
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital that comedy gets wide latitude, and that this joke was hardly an exception. The objection, the spokesperson said, was to its premise: that it plays on what the group called a widespread but baseless belief that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
The organization went further. It argued that accusing Israel of genocide casts Jews as perpetrators of the crime committed against them in the Holocaust, and said such accusations are motivated in no small part by a desperation to ease global guilt over a real genocide of Jews. The spokesperson added that the accusation has fueled abuse and violence against Jews worldwide, including terrorism and murder.
Curtis Houck, managing editor of NewsBusters, also criticized the joke. He told Fox News Digital that it has become a punchline to call Israel a genocidal state, and said he doubted SNL's viewers know what the word actually means. In his view, it applies more readily to how many Arabs regard whether Israel should be allowed to exist.
Houck said the segment could have taken a different angle: a dig at the genocide accusations, noting that Israel held free and fair elections in which Arabs voted, to the point that their parties won 19 seats in the Knesset. That, he said, would have been too large a bubble to burst for the far left in America. His conclusion was that the word "genocide" shouldn't be something to joke about. Preliminary results in the recent election projected Israel's two Arab-led parties to win a combined 19 seats.
This is not the first time Che has drawn fire over Israel. In February 2021, he said, "Israel is reporting that they've vaccinated half of their population. I'm going to guess it's the Jewish half." The Anti-Defamation League said that joke not only missed the mark but crossed the line. The American Jewish Committee separately asked NBC for a retraction and apology, saying the joke misrepresented vaccine eligibility and that vaccines were available to Israeli citizens regardless of religion or ethnicity.
Fox News Digital contacted the Israeli government and the White House for comment and had not received a response at the time of publication. The piece includes no comment from NBC or Che about the latest joke, so their response remains the missing part of the account.
Citazioni salienti
There's always a lot of latitude with comedy, and this joke is hardly an exception.— Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesperson
Use of the word 'genocide' shouldn't be something to joke about.— Curtis Houck, NewsBusters managing editor
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