The American satirical cartoon “South Park” on Wednesday featured an angry American Jewish mother traveling to Israel to chew out Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and blame him for the rise of antisemitism since the start of the war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
“There you are, Mr. Netanyahu! Just who do you think you are, killing thousands and flattening neighborhoods, then wrapping yourself in Judaism like it’s some shield from criticism? You’re making life for Jews miserable, and life for American Jews impossible!” says Sheila Broflovski to the premier.
In the episode, Sheila’s son Kyle is infuriated to learn that his schoolmates are gambling, in an online “prediction market,” on whether his mother will bomb a Palestinian hospital in Gaza.
Eric Cartman, the show’s antihero and one of Kyle’s best friends, knows that Sheila will not, in fact, bomb a Palestinian hospital, but realizes that the more Kyle objects to the suggestion, the more money can be made by betting against the prediction.
“It’s called a conflict of interest, you guys — it’s a way to make free money,” Cartman explains to his friends over lunch. “All we have to do is make sure Kyle stays angry, and at the same time go talk antisemitic shit about his mom to goose the odds up even more!”
When Kyle arrives in the cafeteria, Cartman delivers a rousing speech to his Jewish friend, lambasting the bet and denouncing the prediction market for allowing it to stay online. Appealing to the younger Broflovski’s filial piety, Cartman urges: “If you don’t have her back, who will?”
Then, Cartman runs to his classmates, and declares: “Have you guys heard about Kyle’s mom? Man, that bitch has it out for Palestine, let me tell you. Well I don’t know, I’d just hate to be a Palestinian hospital, that’s all I can say.”
When the plan is successful, and buzz about the bet leads other class moms to ask Sheila over lunch what she thinks about the war in Gaza — an apparent non sequitur — in order to decide whether they should put money on the proposition, the Jewish mother explodes with frustration that she is asked to answer for Israel’s actions.
“Are you implying that Jews in America have some sort of obligation to do something about it? You want to vilify my faith, is that it?! It’s not Jews vs. Palestine, it’s Israel vs. Palestine!” she shouts, before storming off.
Later, at family dinner, Sheila rants to her husband, who says he, by contrast, hasn’t been asked about the war. Infuriated by her son’s suggestion that the family “lay low,” Sheila gathers her things and vows to “find out where all this is coming from,” and “give them a piece of my mind!” Then, she travels to Israel to yell at the prime minister.
The plot line is only one part of the 22-minute episode, which otherwise revolves around US President Donald Trump, who has impregnated Satan, attempting to induce a miscarriage to avoid the demon-child stealing his attention; Trump is influenced to do this by Vice President JD Vance, who sees the potential Trump heir as a threat to his political career.
In the episode, Trump attempts various methods to kill the satanic fetus, but repeatedly finds himself injuring FCC chairman Brendan Carr instead, by accident. The injuries threaten to render Carr unable to speak — his literal “freedom of speech” — in a jab at the Trump official’s pressure on the ABC television network to take late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air.