Jerry Seinfeld has never been shy about his affinity for the New York Mets.
But it has only been in recent years that he has publicly expressed his love for the Israel Defense Forces, which he did again on Wednesday after the Mets beat the rival Philadelphia Phillies in Queens to advance to the ALCS. of the National League.
When a fan approached him and told him he had a brother watching the game from the Gaza border, the 70-year-old comedian happily offered a message to the unidentified person in Israel.
Dressed in a Mets cap and sweatshirt, Seinfeld pounded his chest, pumped the first one, and delivered.
“Let’s go to the IDF,” Seinfeld said in the video, which went viral after being shared by a pro-Israel X account. ‘And let’s go Mets!’
Jerry Seinfeld didn’t shy away when asked to express his support for the IDF and the Mets.
The former Nielsen ratings king on primetime television received significant online praise for the message, and several responders thanked him for his input.
“Jerry is amazing,” one wrote.
“He made us all laugh and now he makes us proud,” added another.
However, many others criticized Seinfeld’s support for the Israeli regime.
“Encouraging terrorists,” wrote one person on X.
Seinfeld’s support for Israel amid the country’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon has already divided audiences. In May, dozens of students left Duke University’s graduation ceremony singing “Free Palestine” as Seinfeld addressed the graduating class.
Video of the speech also showed several attendees leaving the stands, including one person wearing a keffiyeh, which can be an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Others shouted ‘Jerry! German!’ since the actor received an honorary degree and Seinfeld delivered his speech without further interruptions.
The Mets, Seinfeld’s longtime team, celebrated their first NLCS berth since 2015 this week.
The post, which comes from a pro-Israel account, generated some criticism on social media.
The vast majority of responses supported Seinfeld’s statement in favor of the IDF.
“A lot of you are thinking, ‘I can’t believe they invited this guy.’ Too late,” he said, after promising to “defend” the concept of privilege.
‘I say, use your privilege. I grew up a Jewish kid from New York. “It’s a privilege if you want to be a comedian,” he added.
Seinfeld visited Israel and has openly supported the country since October 7, 2023, when the militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and kidnapped another 252, of whom 133 are believed to remain captive in Gaza, according to Israeli counts.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military operations have killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave.
Before his speech to Duke students in Durham, North Carolina, Seinfeld also received criticism for visiting an IDF camp in the West Bank in 2018.
Seinfeld speaks with Israeli President Shimon Peres on November 23, 2007 in Jerusalem
“I’ll never stop seeing Jerry Seinfeld happily posing with a machine gun at an IDF fantasy camp,” one person wrote at the time.
‘Jerry Seinfeld took his kids to play war games with the IDF. How cute, right? Now imagine the reaction if, say, Bella Hadid posed with the PFLP or DJ Khaled (wielding a machine gun) hung out with Hamas,” Israel scholar and critic Steven Salaita wrote in 2018.
Despite the criticism, Seinfeld’s support for Israel only seems to intensify in recent years.
“I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people,” he said after the October 7, 2023 attacks.