SNL's Michael Che Turns Israel Vote Turnout Into 'Genocide' Punchline

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” is facing criticism after “Weekend Update” co-anchor Michael Che turned Israel’s record election turnout into a “genocide” punchline during the show’s Halloween broadcast on Oct. 31.

“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,” Che said, according to the segment NBC posted on the show’s official X account and to reporting by Fox News, Variety and TheWrap. TheWrap reported that the camera then cut to co-anchor Colin Jost, whose jaw dropped before he moved on to the next joke.

Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che! pic.twitter.com/gPYlZQs1dN

— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) November 1, 2026

Pro-Israel groups push back

The Campaign Against Antisemitism told Fox News Digital that comedy gets “a lot of latitude,” but said the joke plays on “what has become a widespread but baseless belief that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.” The group’s spokesperson said that kind of allegation “has fueled abuse and violence against Jews worldwide — including terrorism and murder,” Fox News reported.

StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy group, also condemned the line on Sunday, according to Israel National News. “Instead of celebrating a democracy where every citizen can vote, Michael Che used SNL’s Weekend Update to repeat the genocide lie about Israel with another anti-Israel ‘joke,'” the group said, adding, “Right side or left side, one thing is clear: Che is on the wrong side.”

StandWithUs pointed out that Israelis of every background, including Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze citizens, voted in the election, which it said had the highest turnout since 1999, and that Arab parties won a record number of votes, Israel National News reported.

“Shouldn’t be something to joke about”

NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck told Fox News Digital that the punchline shows how far the claim has spread. “We’re now at the point where it’s a punchline to refer to Israel as a genocidal state,” Houck said. He argued the show could have used the same news to make the opposite point.

“One could have framed it as a dig against the calls of genocide that a country held free and fair elections in which Arabs could vote and did, to the point their parties won 19 seats in the Knesset,” Houck told Fox News Digital. “Simply put, use of the word ‘genocide’ shouldn’t be something to joke about.” Fox News reported that Israel’s two Arab-led parties were projected to win a combined 19 seats, according to preliminary results.

Not Che’s first Israel controversy

This isn’t the first time Che’s Israel material has drawn fire. In February 2021, he joked on “Weekend Update” that Israel had vaccinated half its population against COVID-19 and added, “I’m going to guess it’s the Jewish half,” Fox News and Israel National News reported. That line drew demands for an apology from American Jewish groups, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “just outrageous” at the time, according to Israel National News.

Variety noted that “Weekend Update” has largely steered clear of the Israel debate until now. The same Oct. 31 segment also took shots at President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Republican messaging ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, Fox News reported.

NBC and Che had not publicly responded to the criticism as of Sunday night, based on the coverage cited here.

The bottom line: a network comedy show used a democratic election, one in which Arab citizens voted in record numbers, to repeat an accusation that the Campaign Against Antisemitism calls baseless.

Sources

• Saturday Night Live on X: Weekend Update (Nov. 1, 2026)
• Fox News
• Israel National News
• Variety
• TheWrap

Reporting by Daily Beltway.