Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earned a new distinction this week: He was lampooned on the satirical animated series South Park, and cowed into silence by a tirade from Kyle’s mother, Sheila Broflovski.
The creators of the irreverent series, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, wrote the Israeli leader into the fifth episode of the current season, called Conflict of Interest.
While much of the episode poked fun at the United States President Donald Trump and Brendan Carr of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for getting late-night host Jimmy Kimmel suspended briefly, Parker and Stone reserved some bile for Netanyahu.
Israel’s prime minister and the war in Gaza come into the action when the South Park kids start betting on different political situations through a market prediction app, and one of the situations they are asked about is: Will Kyle’s mother strike in Gaza and destroy a local hospital? Kyle asks Cartman, "Why would my mom ever destroy a Palestinian hospital?" Cartman says, "Because she's Jewish?"
Kyle calls the bet "antisemitic," saying that no one should bet on a war and that, "Jews and Palestinians are not football teams that you bet on." Cartman responds that Jews "lose it" the moment anyone mentions Gaza. Kyle then turns to Carr and the FCC to try to find out who put his mother onto the betting app.
Sheila Broflovski also wants to find out who tossed her name into the app, asking, "Are you implying that Jews in the US have a duty to do something about this? It's not the Jews against Palestine; it's Israel against Palestine! And maybe if you read books instead of listening to what Hollywood actors say, you'll see the difference."
Her quest leads her to Israel, and she steps out of a taxi in front of a government building in Jerusalem before she storms into a meeting in the prime minister’s office and confronts him.
“There you are, Mr. Netanyahu,” she yells, as he sits frozen. “Just who do you think you are, killing thousands and flattening neighborhoods, then wrapping yourself in Judaism, like it’s some shield from criticism? You’re making life for Jews miserable and life for American Jews impossible!
"Oh, don’t you roll your eyes at me, Mr.! You know what you’re doing, and you’re doing it on purpose. Well, now you can just sit in that chair, cause I’m not going anywhere, buster! I’ve been to every PTA meeting and every school board meeting and I can go all day!”
Trump appeared in bed with the devil
Netanyahu has not issued a comment about the episode, but in July, Taylor Rogers, a White House spokesperson, rebuked the series for an episode that showed Trump in bed with the devil.
“South Park has been irrelevant for more than 20 years, and it's barely surviving, dragging along with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt to get attention," she said.
Rogers commented on the episode just three days after Parker and Stone signed a new $1.5 billion streaming deal with Paramount Plus. The show is in its 27th season.
While some criticized the Netanyahu episode as being factually incorrect and anti-Israel, others embraced it, including celebrities4Palestine, which posted a clip on its Instagram account.