Jerry Seinfeld blasts anti-Israel heckler during Sydney standup gig: ‘We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen’
Jerry Seinfeld busted a pro-Palestine supporter who heckled the comedian during his stand-up performance in Sydney at the Qudos Bank Arena on Sunday night.
The incident, captured on video by the Australian Jewish Association, happened when an audience member interrupted Seinfeld with a provocative chant.
As Seinfeld, 70, performed for the audience, the heckler shouted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The outburst sparked an immediate response from the crowd, who urged the protester to “get away” and chanted “Jerry, Jerry” in solidarity with the comedian.
Security quickly intervened and escorted the heckler out as the crowd erupted in boos. Seinfeld, known for his sharp humor, didn’t miss a beat.
Jerry Seinfeld delivered a blistering attack on an anti-Israel heckler, temporarily halting his Sydney performance on Sunday night
The incident, captured on video by the Australian Jewish Association, happened when an audience member interrupted Seinfeld with a provocative chant.
“We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen,” he quipped sarcastically. ‘He solved the Middle East [crisis].’
The veteran comedian continued his story, turning the heckler’s disruption into a scathing satire on the region’s political complexities.
“It’s the Jewish comedian, that’s who we need to get, they’re the ones who do everything,” Seinfeld joked.
“We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen,” he quipped sarcastically. ‘He solved the Middle East’
“They’ll start hitting you in about three seconds, so I would try to get all your genius out of it so we can all learn from you.”
Seinfeld’s criticism of the incident did not stop there.
‘You really have an influence on everyone here; we are all on your side now, because you made your point so well, and in the right place. This is the right place for a political conversation,” he said.
Later, Seinfeld noted, “Tomorrow we’ll read in the paper, ‘Middle East 100 percent solved thanks to a man in the Qudos arena stopping a Jewish comedian.’ They stopped him and everyone in the Middle East said, ‘Oh my God, let’s just get along, we can.’
Seinfeld also discussed Australia’s own history with racial issues, drawing a parallel to the heckler’s misguided attempt at activism.
Seinfeld also discussed Australia’s own history with racial issues, drawing a parallel to the heckler’s misguided attempt at activism.
“Because I know there are problems here, with the native Aboriginal people and the white people,” he noted.
“They’re having problems here, so maybe to fix that I’ll screw up a Jim Jeffries at a show in New York. If that works, this will work. You have to be 20,000 miles away from the problem and screw up a comedian, that’s how you solve the world’s problems.’
Seinfeld has made his support for Israel very clear, making him a favorite celebrity target for angry agitators.
The billionaire comedian told the Times of Israel in December 2023, just over two months after the war in Gaza began, that he “lived and worked on a kibbutz in Israel when I was 16 and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since.” .’
He added that he would “always stand by the side of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Following these comments, Seinfeld was confronted in New York City after attending the State of the World Jewry speech in February.
Journalist Bari Weiss gave the speech, and as Seinfeld left the event, protesters repeatedly shouted at him “liberate Palestine” and “you support genocide.”
And recently, dozens of Duke University students left their own commencement ceremony out of frustration that Seinfeld was about to speak.