‘I don’t care about Palestine’: Video of comedian Jerry Seinfeld sparks debate online
Actor and comedian Jerry Seinfeld swiftly shut down an activist in a video published on Sunday, telling him that he doesn’t “care about Palestine”.
The video was posted by an Instagram user with the handle Subway DJ, who can be seen going up to the comedian and asking if taking a selfie with him was okay.
The video was taken outside an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Saturday Night Live at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Friday night, according to news reports.
In the clip, as Seinfeld agrees to the picture and the pair poses for it, the activist says “free Palestine” and holds up a peace sign, creating an awkward silence from Seinfeld.
As the activist tries to get his response, Seinfeld responds before walking away: “I don’t care about Palestine.”
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The video has sparked a debate online, with many criticising Seinfeld for dismissing the activist.
The actor is well-known for his pro-Israel positions and has voiced them repeatedly online as well as through visits to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
He also met with the families of those who were captured after the Hamas-led 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.
On 9 October, two days after the attack, he shared a post on Instagram with the caption: “I lived and worked on a Kibbutz in Israel when I was 16 and I have loved our Jewish homeland ever since.”
The video has also reignited the debate about Seinfeld taking his family to visit a “military fantasy camp” as part of a holiday to Israel in 2018, where he and his family posed with machine guns and attended simulations that demonstrated Palestinians as "target practice".
Many online expressed their anger at Seinfeld and defined the “fantasy camp” as “demonic”.
this is jerry seinfeld at a fantasy terror camp held by the iof in illegally occupied west bank https://t.co/VEb41LKR6n pic.twitter.com/Gk5e7RGOcN
— endora bullshit (@collectdust) February 17, 2025
Many criticised the lack of response to Seinfeld’s remarks and what seemed like a “double standard” for people criticising Israel openly and for those who criticise Palestine.
Jerry Seinfeld said he doesn't care about Palestine, and he still gets paid gigs. But we saw professors lose their jobs because they criticized Israel. Let that sink in.
— Sabby Sabs (@SabbySabs2) February 18, 2025
Earlier this month, a performer during Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl LIX halftime show held a banner featuring the flags of Palestine and Sudan.
The National Football League distanced itself from the demonstration and stated that the individual had been banned from future league events and NFL stadiums.
Seinfeld’s support for ‘counter’ protests
Seinfeld’s “I don’t care about Palestine” moment also opened up another debate about how both he and his wife, Jessica, reportedly contributed $5,000 to help fund a pro-Israel protest at the University of California in Los Angeles in 2024, where violence broke out at a pro-Palestinian encampment.
Fuck Jerry Seinfeld https://t.co/LJ8J4oJE75 pic.twitter.com/8PQEzUV8Sx
— People's City Council - Los Angeles (@PplsCityCouncil) February 17, 2025
Jessica encouraged her Instagram followers to donate to the “Charity for Israel”, a counter-protest movement against the widespread pro-Palestinian encampments in US universities. The charity’s fundraising page said it "celebrated Israel in the faces of those that call for our demise and that is the best type of resistance that we can possibly show".
One person shared a screenshot of a post on X, “We’ll never forget that the Seinfelds paid to have kids viciously attacked at UCLA and Duke still hosted Jerry Seinfeld as a graduation speaker.”
— ☀️ (@____GABE___) February 17, 2025
In May 2024, Duke University invited Seinfeld to address the university’s graduation ceremony, which sparked outrage at the time.
Dozens of students walked out of the university’s commencement ceremony as some chanted "free Palestine" to protest against the guest speaker and comedian due to his unequivocal support for Israel throughout its war on Gaza.
Videos posted on social media from the graduation ceremony in May 2024 showed loud disapproving boos, as well as chants of "free Palestine", with some students waving Palestinian flags as they walked out before Seinfeld’s speech.
This was not the first time Seinfeld was criticised due to his pro-Israeli stance. In May 2024, right after his commencement speech at Duke University, a stand-up gig in New Jersey was disrupted while he was on stage by pro-Palestine protesters, with one protester yelling out during the show.
Following these protests, Seinfeld spoke to Bari Weiss on her podcast, where he said: “I love that these young people are trying to get engaged with politics. We have to just correct their aim a little bit. They don’t seem to understand that, as comedians, we really don’t control anything.”
According to reports, many US universities have taken stricter measures to curb pro-Palestinian university activism and encampments since Israel’s war on Gaza started.
Since Israel’s war on Gaza started, at least 48,271 people have been killed, and many more have been displaced in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Thousands are missing and presumed dead under Gaza's rubble, and many have been maimed or orphaned.
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