Jerry Seinfeld has never been shy about his affinity for the New York Mets.
But it’s only been in the last few years that he’s 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 National League Championship Series.
Approached by a fan claiming to have a brother watching the game from the Gaza border, the 70-year-old comic happily offered a message to the unnamed person in Israel.
Dressed in a Mets hat and sweatshirt, Seinfeld pounded his chest, pumped his first, and delivered.
‘Let’s go IDF,’ Seinfeld said in the video, which went viral after being shared by a pro-Israeli X account. ‘And let’s go Mets!’
Jerry Seinfeld didn’t shy away when asked to voice support for the IDF and the Mets
The former Nielsen ratings king of primetime television drew significant online praise for the message, with several responders thanking him for his input.
‘Jerry is awesome,’ wrote one.
‘He made all of us laugh and now he makes all of us proud,’ added another.
However, many others were critical of Seinfeld’s support for the Israeli regime.
‘Cheering on the terrorists,’ one person wrote on X.
Seinfeld’s support for Israel amid the country’s military actions in Gaza and Lebanon has already divided the public. In May, dozens of students walked out of Duke University’s commencement ceremony chanting ‘free Palestine’ as Seinfeld addressed the graduating class.
Video from the speech also showed several attendees leaving the viewing stands, including a person wearing a keffiyeh, which can be an emblem of solidarity with the Palestinian cause.
Others shouted ‘Jerry! Jerry!’ as the actor received an honorary degree, and Seinfeld delivered his speech without major interruptions.
The Mets, Seinfeld’s long-time team, celebrated their first NLCS berth since 2015 this week
The post, which came from a pro-Israeli account, drew some criticism on social media
The vast majority of the responses were supportive of Seinfeld’s pro-IDF statement
‘A lot of you are thinking, ”I can’t believe they invited this guy.” Too late,’ he said, after vowing to ‘defend’ the concept of privilege.
‘I say, use your privilege. I grew up a Jewish boy from New York. That is a privilege if you want to be a comedian,’ he added.
Seinfeld visited Israel and has vocally supported the country since October 7, 2023, when militant group Hamas killed 1,200 people and abducted 252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military operations have killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave.
Prior to his address to Duke students in Durham, North Carolina, Seinfeld also took criticism for visiting an IDF camp on the West Bank in 2018.
Seinfeld talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres on November 23, 2007 in Jerusalem
‘I can never unsee Jerry Seinfeld gleefully 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. So cute, right? Now imagine the reaction if, say, Bella Hadid posed with the PFLP or DJ Khaled [brandishing a machine gun] hung out with Hamas,’ academic and critic of Israel Steven Salaita wrote in 2018.
Despite the criticism, Seinfeld’s support for Israel has only seemed to intensify in recent years.
‘I will always stand with Israel and the Jewish people,’ he said following the October 7 attacks in 2023.
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