Israel joins Trump-mocking campaign with parody video

Israeli satire program Gav HaUmah (Back of the Nation), hosted by comedian Lior Schlein, on Saturday joined the mock international competition of countries seeking to be considered “number two” in the wake of Donald Trump’s “America First” message.

Schlein introduced the video appeal to Trump, explaining that he had been asked by a similar German satire program to participate in the campaign started by a Dutch Jewish comedian late last month.

“And I, Schlein, when the Germans ask me to do something, I do it,” he quipped.

Comedy programs in at least 17 other countries have submitted videos sarcastically campaigning for their respective nations to be considered “second” to America’s “first.”

The Israeli clip, like others, was produced using sentence structures similar to those favored by Trump, and the narrator’s voice is very similar to the former reality show star’s.

“Dear Mr. President,” the video begins politely, “welcome to this introduction video about Israel,” before going on to ridicule Trump for a series of gaffes from the campaign, the transition and the first few weeks of his presidency.

“Israel… the holiest place on earth. Where God had sex with Maria, okay? No consent, but still a virgin. She has no case,” the video proceeds in an apparent mockery of the president’s dismissive attitude toward accusations of sexual assault that were made against him before his upset victory in November.

“Israel is the birthplace of Jesus, great guy, total winner,” the clip continues. “They say we [the Jews] crucified him. We didn’t. Those were fake Jews. I swear, horrible media,” using a line of attack on the press favored by the president.

The video covers a lot of ground, ridiculing Trump’s open admiration for Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, and the report last month that the Russians had gathered incriminating information on the US president; his apparent mocking of a disabled reporter on the campaign trail; and his boasting of grabbing and kissing women uninvited in a recorded conversation that surfaced before the elections.

In reference to the White House’s recent executive order banning immigrants and refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries, the video points out that “more Muslims in Jerusalem [means] less coming to your America,”

It also mocks several notions, often espoused by anti-Semites, that Jews run the world’s financial system, show business, and comedy.

The video teases the president’s disgust for comedy show “Saturday Night Live,” telling him that the Jews cannot be blamed for Alec Baldwin’s impersonations of him because he is a non-Jew and therefore unfunny; but also because Jews do not watch TV during Shabbat. (The show airs after nightfall on Saturdays, and its creator Lorne Michaels is Jewish.)

The clip also argues that Israel has contributed to making America “great again” — Trump’s campaign slogan — simply by being an enemy of Iran.

“America and Israel, we have a joint enemy: Iran They call Israel the little Satan. They call America the great Satan; so thanks to us, America is great again.”

The roughly four-and-a-half-minute campaign concludes like the others, with a final appeal to Trump.

“We totally understand that it’s going to be America first, but can we just say ‘Israel second’?”