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In ‘Jew,’ comic Ari Shaffir delivers a raunchy love letter to the religion he says he left behind
(New York Jewish Week) — “You never know how people are going to respond,” says Jewish comedian Ari Shaffir, referring to his new standup special, “Jew,” which has more than 3 million views (and counting) on YouTube.
The self-released, 90-minute showcase of stories and jokes goes deep into his life story, including his studies at a Jerusalem yeshiva. Shaffir, who eventually left Orthodoxy behind, balances Talmud lessons with the neuroticism of Jewish culture.
The show gives the entire backstory of Judaism, starting with Adam and Eve, interweaving tales about Hanukkah and Passover, going through customs and traditions. It’s an oral history of Judaism, told through a brutally honest comedic lens.
After it was released two weeks ago, the special has been praised by numerous comics in the podcast world, including Tim Dillon, Shane Gillis, Chris Destafano and Joe Rogan, whom Shaffir calls a longtime friend.
There are also over 25,000 comments on the special, most of them positive. One goes as far to say that it is “the best special of the century so far.”
Shaffir, who lives in the East Village, said he has not received much negative feedback for the special, which is rare for a comedian who once received death threats and had to cancel shows for joking about NBA player Kobe Bryant’s death in 2020.
“Jew,” which was shot and performed in Brooklyn, was released Nov. 2. The date, Shaffir told the New York Jewish Week, was set far in advance — but it arrived at a moment when antisemitism became a national conversation topic, thanks to recent tweets from rapper Kanye West and Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving.
“I was worried for a minute — I thought for a second it was going to derail it,” he said of the timing, adding that he “wasn’t looking for this kind of press” in regards to his special.
The conversation only grew more intense last week, after Dave Chapelle delivered a monologue on “Saturday Night Live” abut the West and Irving controversies that critics, including the Anti-Defamation League and Simon Wiesenthal Center, called antisemitic.
“They’re ready to say that, regardless,” Shaffir said. “The complaints were already written. Most people think it’s funny.” Jewish organizations, he said, are “not known as great comedy critiquers.”
“People don’t understand that we enjoy that,” Shaffir added, referring to the criticism. “I can speak for Chapelle on this. We’re only here to make people laugh, but we also enjoy when dorks get mad.”
Shaffir, 48, has made a career off of making dorks mad, weaving tales about drugs, sex and Judaism into world tours, a podcast, spots at the Comedy Cellar in New York and the Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
While he’s known for his edgy humor, Shaffir appears more introspective and personal in “Jew” when compared to his previous work. On his Comedy Central show “This Is Not Happening,” which ran for four seasons between 2015 and 2019, he talks about planting weed for strangers and fans at sports arenas and shopping malls (the police weren’t amused). He also appeared in a sketch called “The Amazing Racist,” where he spoofs “The Amazing Race” by playing a character who constantly brings up offensive stereotypes.
With “Jew,” by contrast, Shaffir has channeled his persona into a hyper-focused, cohesive take on all aspects of Judaism, including mikvahs, Yom Kippur chicken rituals and the minutiae of when certain foods can be considered kosher. At the same time, he keeps the material palatable for a non-Jewish audience.
“You can make anything accessible,” Shaffir said. “It’s the same thing as saying, ‘My dad does this weird thing, or my country does this weird thing.’ You just explain it and you’re fine.”
Ari Shaffir holds the crown as my favorite j-w. He’s Moshiach in my eyes. pic.twitter.com/8kLFSaqgqp
— Adam Green – Know More News (@Know_More_News) November 14, 2022
While Shaffir may have turned away from religion as a young man, he said he has since found “a love for how interesting and cool it was.”
“I now see that Judaism leaves your kids with intelligence, where they value education and family,” Shaffir said. “It’s great stuff and I wanted to show that.”
When the special was released, Shaffir left a note on his web site saying that it is his “love letter to the culture and religion that raised me.”
He tells a story in the special about meeting with his rabbi from the Jerusalem yeshiva and telling him he was a standup comedian. “All he wanted to know was, ‘do you still use the teaching?’” Shaffir says in the special.
Shaffir then talks about how the rabbi gave him a lesson about Noah’s Ark, which he then turns into a bit about anal sex — all while leaving the audience with a positive spin on Judaism.
“Not all religion is stupid,” Shaffir says in the special. “It’s a good lesson, especially in this day and age.”
Shaffir was born in New York and spent most of his childhood in North Carolina and Maryland. He was “a Modern Orthodox Jewish kid” who attended the Hebrew Academy of Greater Washington (now the Berman Hebrew Academy). After high school, Shaffir went to Bris Medrash L’Torah, an Orthodox yeshiva in Jerusalem, which he said was the “standard track” for a Jewish kid at his age, but eventually he had “a crisis of faith.”
“I just came home and really thought about it and I was like, ‘I’m out,’” Shaffir said. “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Since then, Shaffir said he does not believe in God, but believes in the “shared history” of Judaism.
And while he’s had moments of Jewish jokes and stories in his previous specials, this is his full show on the topic, going deep within himself to find the humor within the religion, even in the darkest of places.
Shaffir’s father is a Holocaust survivor from Romania, who moved to Israel following the war. Shaffir said his story of survival was “a major part of our upbringing.”
“Their village got taken later in the war,” Shaffir said of his father’s family. “Most of the family was wiped out. I don’t know all the details exactly.”
He now has a good relationship with his parents and said they saw him perform the special live. “They liked it,” Shaffir said. “They probably liked it more than my other specials, where I was talking about [having sex with] chicks with herpes.”
While working on the special, Shaffir workshopped his material at the Fat Black Pussycat, the “sister showroom” of the Comedy Cellar in New York’s Greenwich Village. There, an audience member once asked him a question about “the pillow” that Jews carry.
“I was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Shaffir said. “But then it hit me: It’s tallis and tefillin,” the velvet bags containing prayer shawls and phylacteries that Jews carry to synagogue. “It looks like a pillowcase. You can look at it from an outside perspective, their point of view: It looks like a pillow. Their questions would get me to riff.”
He later took his special abroad, including Israel, where “it did not work,” he said. “They knew too much about it. All the exposition, they were like, ‘We know.’”
In contrast, he performed the material in places where there were few or possibly no Jews, such as Perth, Australia and Reykjavik, Iceland, where it went well. “Places where they are like, ‘I’ve never heard of [Jews],” Shaffir said. “I had to make sure it went well there because it’s gotta be accessible.”
He also performed a version of the show as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, which he said greatly inspired the special.
Another aspect of the Shaffir’s special is countering the narrative of Orthodox Jews as outsiders. “They work regular jobs,” Shaffir said. “There are ambulance drivers with yarmulkes. There’s just some weird stuff that they do. We would play basketball and we would have tzitzit [ritual fringes] and a yarmulke on, but we were on the courts with everybody.”
Shaffir has a joke in the special about using a yarmulke as a move to distract a defender during a basketball game.
This year, Ryan Turell became the first Orthodox player drafted into the NBA’s developmental G League
“I love it,” Shaffir said. “Hopefully it goes well for him and he loses his religion. That would be cool.”
—
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How Judeo-languages helped transmit knowledge to the Jewish masses
זינט אוראַלטע צײַטן האָבן זיך ייִדן באַנוצט מיט פֿרעמדע שפּראַכן כּדי צו באַקענען פֿאַרשײדענע ייִדישע ייִשובֿים מיט קאַנאָנישע טעקסטן פֿון תּנ״ך, גמרא און תּפֿילות. דער דאָזיקער טעמע זײַנען געװידמעט קאַפּיטלען אינעם נײַעם זאַמלבאַנד „בריקן פֿון קענטעניש: ייִדישע שפּראַכן אינעם קולטורעלן קאָנטעקסט“, רעדאַקטירט דורך די פּראָפֿעסאָרן זשאַן באַומגאַרטען (סאָרבאָן־אוניװערסיטעט, פּאַריז), רות פֿאָן בערנוט (אוניװערסיטעט פֿון צפֿון־קאַראָלײַנע) און משה לבֿיא (אוניװערסיטעט פֿון חיפֿה).
הײַנט זײַנען ייִדיש און לאַדינאָ די צװײ סאַמע פֿאַרשפּרײטע און באַקאַנטע ייִדישע שפּראַכן, אָבער די סאַמע אַלטע פֿרעמדע שפּראַך, װאָס ייִדן האָבן „פֿאַרייִדישט“, איז געװען אַראַמיש, דער תּרגום־ און גמרא־לשון. אין מיטל־עלטער האָט דער ייִדישער דיאַלעקט פֿון אַראַביש אויך געשפּילט אַ װיכטיקע ראָלע אין אָפּהיטן און פֿאַרשפּרײטן ייִדישע קענטענישן אױף די ברײטע שטחים צװישן בבֿל און שפּאַניען.
חוץ דעם האָבן ייִדן אין פֿאַרשײדענע לענדער און תּקופֿות גענוצט אײגענע נוסחאָות פֿון איטאַליעניש, גריכיש, אַלט־פֿראַנצױזיש, פֿאַרסי, טאָטעריש, טשעכיש וכּדומה. דער בולטסטער חילוק צװישן דעם ייִדישן און ניט־ייִדישן נוסח פֿון אַ שפּראַך זײַנען ניט די װערטער, נאָר דער אַלף־בית: ייִדן האָבן פֿאַרשריבן זײערע טעקסטן מיט ייִדישע אותיות.
פֿינעף פֿון די פֿערצן קאַפּיטלען אינעם זאַמלבוך באַהאַנדלען אַלט־ייִדיש. איבערטײַטשונגען פֿון לשון־קודשדיקע מקורים זײַנען געװען דער יסוד פֿון דער אַלט־ייִדישער ליטעראַטור. מען האָט איבערגעטײַטשט ניט נאָר דעם תּנ״ך, נאָר אױך די אַפּאָקריפֿן („ספֿרים חיצונים“ אױף העברעיִש), דאָס הײסט ספֿרים פֿון דער תּקופֿה פֿונעם תּנ״ך, װעלכע זײַנען ניט אַרײַן אינעם ייִדישן קאַנאָן אָבער האָבן זיך אָפּגעהיט אין דער קריסטלעכער טראַדיציע.
אַ ספּעציעלן אָרט צװישן די דאָזיקע ביכער פֿאַרנעמט דער ספֿר „חכמת בן־סירא“, שרײַבט פֿאָן בערנוט. ביז הײַנט האָבן זיך אָפּגעהיט פֿיר פֿאַרשײדענע ייִדישע נוסחאָות פֿונעם דאָזיקן ספֿר — אַ סימן, אַז דאָס איז געװען אַ פּאָפּולערע לעקטור. דער מקור פֿאַר די ייִדישע איבערטײַטשונגען איז געװען מאַרטין לוטערס דײַטשישע איבערזעצונג פֿון דער ביבל, װאָס האָט כּולל געװען די אַפּאָקריפֿן, איבערגעזעצט פֿון לאַטײַניש און גריכיש.
די ערשטע ייִדישע אױסגאַבע פֿון בן סיראס משלים איז אַרױס אין קראָקע אַרום 1539, איבערגעטײַטשט דורך דעם משומד יאָהאַנעס העליטש. פֿאַר זײַן שמד האָט ער געהײסן אליקום. בשותּפֿות מיט זײַנע צװײ ברידער האָט ער פֿאַרמאָגט די ערשטע ייִדישע דרוקערײַ אין קוזמאַרק, דער ייִדישער פֿאָרשטאָט פֿון קראָקע.
אָבער דער געשעפֿט איז ניט געגאַנגען גוט, און כּדי פּטור צו װערן פֿון די שװערע חובֿות, האָבן זיך די דרײַ ברידער געשמדט. פֿאַר דעם האָט דער פּױלישער קעניג סיגיזמונד דער ערשטער בטל געמאַכט זײערע חובֿות און געגעבן זײ אַ חזקה אױף דרוקן און פֿאַרקױפֿן אַלע ייִדישע ספֿרים אין פּױלן.
װען ייִדן האָבן זיך אָפּגעזאָגט צו קױפֿן ספֿרים בײַ די ברידער־משומדים, האָט דער קעניג געצװוּנגען ייִדישע קהילות אָפּצוקױפֿן דעם גאַנצן זאַפּאַס פֿון כּמעט 4,000 ביכער. דערנאָך האָט די העליטש־דרוקערײַ אױפֿגעהערט צו דרוקן ייִדישע ביכער בכלל און זיך גענומען פֿאַר קריסטלעכע. צװישן די פֿאַרקױפֿטע ייִדישע ביכער איז מסתּמא אױך געװען דער ספֿר פֿון בן סירא, האַלט פֿאָן בערנוט. מיר װײסן אָבער ניט, צי ייִדן האָבן טאַקע געלײענט די דאָזיקע „טרײפֿענע“ אױסגאַבע.
דער צװײטער ייִדישער נוסח פֿון „בן סירא“ שטאַמט פֿון אַרום דעם יאָר 1600 און האָט זיך אָפּגעהיט בלױז אינעם כּתבֿ־יד. אָבער די צװײ אַנדערע אױסגאַבעס, װאָס זײַנען אַרױס מיט העכער װי 100 יאָר שפּעטער, זײַנען טאַקע געװען פּאָפּולער בײַם אַשכּנזישן עולם. אינעם יאָר 1712 האָט דער אַמסטערדאַמער דרוקער יוסף מאַרסען אַרױסגעגעבן „ספֿר יהושע בן סיראַק“ איבערגעזעצט אױף ייִדיש און העברעיִש.
אין דער הקדמה האָט ער באַשריבן דאָס בוך װי „אײן מעכטיק געטליך ספֿר פֿאַר אַלע מענטשן“, װאָס איז „שײן צו לעזען ניט אַלײן פֿאַר װײַבער“, נאָר אױך פֿאַר „באַלעבאַטים“.די צװײטע אױפֿלאַגע איז אַרױס אין יאָר 1747, אַ סימן, אַז דאָס בוך איז געװען פּאָפּולער.
נאָך אײן אױסגאַבע פֿון „בן סירא“ איז אַרױס אין אָפֿנבאַך, דײַטשלאַנד אין 1721. דער איבערזעצער, אַהרן בן שמואל פֿון הערגערסהאַוזען, איז געװען אַ ייִדישער סוחר מיט ליטעראַרישע אינטערעסן. אַזױ, פֿאַרסך־הכּלט פֿאָן בערנוט, איז די געשיכטע פֿון ייִדישע פֿאַרטײַטשונגען פֿונעם ספֿר בן־סירא אַן אינטערעסאַנטער בײַשפּיל פֿון דעם, װי ייִדן האָבן צוריקגעװוּנען זײער קולטור-ירושה פֿונעם קריסטלעכן רשות.
אַ װיכטיקער מקור פֿאַר ייִדישע איבערטײַטשונגען איז געװען די קבלה. ביזן 17טן יאָרהונדערט איז זי פֿאַרבליבן אַ געהײמע תּורה, װאָס מען האָט געלערנט בלױז צװישן געצײלטע יחידי־סגולה. אָבער מיט דער אַנטװיקלונג פֿון ייִדישן ביכערדרוק איז קבלה געװאָרן פּאָפּולער בײַ מאַסן־לײענער, שרײַבט זשאַן באַומגאַרטען.
אָפֿט מאָל האָט מען אַרײַנגענומען פֿראַגמענטן פֿון קבליסטישע חבורים, אַזעלכע װי ספֿר הזוהר, אין ייִדישע ביכער װעגן מנהגים, אין מעשׂה־ביכער און תּחינות פֿאַר פֿרױען. מען האָט פֿאַרטײַטשט קאָמפּליצירטע מיסטישע השׂגות אױף אַ פּראָסטן לשון, װאָס איז געװען פֿאַרשטענדלעך פֿאַר פֿרױען און נישט־געלערנטע מענער. דערבײַ האָט מען כּסדר ניט דערמאָנט קײן מקור. אַנשטאָט דעם האָט מען פּשוט געזאָגט „המקובלים שרײַבן“. אַזױ זײַנען די מיסטישע באַגריפֿן און אימאַזשן אַרײַן אינעם טאָגטעגלעכן שטײגער פֿון אַשכּנזים.
די נײַע טעכנאָלאָגיע פֿון ביכערדרוק האָט דערמעגלעכט צוצוגעבן ייִדישע טײַטשן אין סידורים און מחזורים. זײ האָבן געהאָלפֿן בעסער צו פֿאַרשטײן די האַרבע עבֿרי פֿון תּפֿילות, אָבער עס זײַנען ניטאָ קײן ראַיות, אַז מען האָט טאַקע געדאַװנט אָדער געלײענט תּורה אױף טײַטש, שרײַבט פּראָפֿעסאָר אורן כּהן רומן (אוניװערסיטעט פֿון חיפֿה).
אין דעם זין זײַנען אַשכּנזים אַנדערש פֿון אַנדערע עדות. די תּימנער האָבן אַ מאָל געלײענט די פּרשה קודם אױף לשון־קודש און דערנאָך אין דער אַראַבישער איבערזעצונג פֿון ר׳ סעדיה גאון. אין אײניקע ספֿרדישע שילן חזרט מען איבער אײניקע פּיוטים אױף יום־כּפּור טאַקע אױף לאַדינאָ.
גאָר אַן אַנדערער זשאַנער זײַנען באַריכטן פֿון ייִדישע נסיעה־שרײַבער, װאָס האָבן דערצײלט װעגן װײַטע מקומות. אײנע פֿון די פּאָפּולערסטע מוסטערן איז „גלילות ארץ ישׂראל“ (געגנטן פֿון ארץ־ישׂראל) פֿון גרשון בן אליעזר סעגאַל פֿון פּראָג, װאָס באַשרײַבט מיטל־מזרחדיקע לענדער. דאָס דאָזיקע בוך האָט געהאַט צען אױפֿלאַגעס צװישן דעם 17טן און דעם 20סטן יאָרהונדערט. אין דער אמתן אָבער איז דאָס ניט קײן אָריגינעלע רײַזע־באַשרײַבונג, נאָר אַ זאַמלונג פֿריִערדיקע העברעיִשע מקורים.
אָבער דאָס הײסט ניט, אַז „גלילות ארץ ישׂראל“ האָט ניט קײן װערט, שרײַבט אסנת שרון־פּינטו (העברעיִשער אוניװערסיטעט אין ירושלים). אױפֿן סמך פֿון אַ פּרטימדיקן אַנאַליז פֿון די מקורים קומט זי צום אױספֿיר, אַז דער מחבר האָט אױסגעקליבן די סאַמע טשיקאַװע מעשׂיות און געגעבן דעם ייִדישן מאַסן־לײענער אַ פֿאַרכאַפּנדיקע לעקטור װעגן כּלערלײ עקזאָטישע װײַטע מקומות. צװישן זײ — רעאַלע בילדער פֿון ארץ־ישׂראל און פֿאַנטאַסטישע מעשׂיות װעגן דעם טײַך סמבטיון און דעם מלכות פֿון צען שבֿטים. דאָס איז אַ מין בוך װאָס װאָלט אױפֿגערעגט דעם כּוח־הדמיון בײַ בנימין, דעם העלד פֿון מענדעלע מוכר־ספֿרימס ראָמאַן „מסעות בנימין השלישי“.
די קאַפּיטלען אינעם זאַמלבאַנד „בריקן פֿון קענטעניש“ ברענגען צונױף טעקסטן פֿון פֿאַרשײדענע לענדער, תּקופֿות און זשאַנערס, װאָס זײ אַלע האָבן געדינט אײן צװעק: צו פֿאַרגרינגערן דעם אױסטױש צװישן פֿאַרשײדענע צװײַגן פֿון דער ייִדישער קולטור דורך איבערזעצן אָדער איבערטײַטשן זײ פֿון אײן לשון אױף אַן אַנדערן.
אַ שאָד נאָר, װאָס די מחברים האָבן זיך באַגרענעצט כראָנאָליגיש און ניט גענומען אין באַטראַכט די מאָדערנע תּקופֿה. אַלטע טעקסטן האָבן װײַטער געלעבט, שעפֿעריש איבערגעאַרבעט, אין די װערק פֿון ייִדישע און העברעיִשע מחברים פֿונעם 19טן און 20טן יאָרהונדערט, אַזעלכע װי מענדעלע מוכר־ספֿרים, איציק מאַנגער, יצחק באַשעװיס און אַנדערע.
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Neo-Nazis raise money for Georgia man wearing Nazi uniform who allegedly assaulted UGA student
A Georgia man wearing a Nazi uniform was arrested last week after allegedly assaulting a University of Georgia student outside a bar, in an incident that has gone viral on social media.
A noted white supremacist is taking credit for helping the alleged assailant, Kenneth Leland Morgan, make bail after several days.
The altercation, which took place outside Cutter’s Pub in downtown Athens, began after the assailant was allegedly denied entry to the bar and asked to leave, according to UGA student newspaper Red and Black.
Morgan, who was born in 1992, was then confronted by two women outside of the bar, one of whom was Jewish, and the group got into a “yelling match” over his Nazi uniform, the victim, Grace Lang, told the Red and Black.
Lang, a 23-year old UGA student, attempted to intervene in the confrontation and reached to rip off Morgan’s red swastika armband, after which he hit her in the face with a glass pitcher, according to video of the assault circulating on social media.
“His blatant attempt to instill fear and create outrage in the community was what sparked the issue,” Lang told the Red and Black. “I grabbed the armband, not him, to remove a hate symbol. The bar we were at doesn’t even have glass pitchers, and I have no clue where he brought it from. I didn’t see it in his hand, but he was clearly ready to use it against anyone.”
Lang sustained a broken nose and a black eye from the assault, and told the Red and Black she received four stitches on her nose bridge in the emergency room.
“We are horrified by the actions of an individual who, while in downtown Athens wearing a Nazi uniform, assaulted a female University of Georgia student. The man is not a student and is not affiliated with the University,” the university said in a statement. “Members of UGA’s Student Care and Outreach team are in contact with our student who was assaulted in this off-campus incident, as well as other students who witnessed this heinous antisemitic behavior.”
Local Jewish leaders denounced the incident. “The Nazi symbol is the symbol of absolute evil. It’s the symbol of hate,” Rabbi Michoel Refson, co-director of Chabad-UGA, told local media, noting that his grandmother survived Auschwitz. “It’s painful, it’s upsetting, it’s hurtful.”
Morgan was later apprehended by police and booked on suspicion of two misdemeanor counts of simple battery and one felony count of aggravated assault. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department did not immediately respond to an inquiry by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency about the incident.
There are signs that Morgan is becoming a cause célèbre for neo-Nazis in the United States. The white supremacist Paul Miller, who gained notoriety for making hate-filled videos while wearing Nazi garb, said on social media that he was working to secure Morgan’s release and directed followers to a crowdfunding campaign that he said was from Morgan directly.
“I am in contact with @GasChambers,” Miller tweeted on Sunday, referring to an X account that says it has raised money for . “We are going to pay the bail for Kenneth in the next few days he will be free. Gaschamber was very kind and gracious.We just spoke on the phone.We are going to get kenneth out very soon.”
On Monday morning, Morgan was held in the Clarke County Jail on $1,500 bond, but by Monday evening, he had been removed from the jail’s online registry of inmates.
Miller said the donation campaign was needed because Morgan had lost his job over the incident. The crowdfunding campaign, on a site that bills itself as a Christian alternative to GoFundMe and is reportedly popular among extremists, has raised more than $5,000 so far, with donors listed as “White Power,” “Joseph Goebbels” and “H3il H1tler.”
The incident is not the only recent Nazi controversy to roil the UGA campus. In January, UGA students staged a protest against the reinstatement of a professor in the engineering college, George Raymond Haynie III, who was placed on leave after allegedly hosting a neo-Nazi event on his property.
In April, after the school established an advisory committee on Jewish student life, it was awarded an “A” grade by the Anti-Defamation League for its efforts to combat campus antisemitism.
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US soldiers stationed in Kiryat Gat turn sleepy Israeli city into an unexpected hotspot
(JTA) — At one of Kiryat Gat’s main shopping complexes, U.S. Army camouflage does everything but blend in.
American troops in fatigues move between shawarma stands and sports-shoe stores, a new presence in the southern industrial city, part of a multinational civil-military coordination center set up to monitor the Gaza ceasefire. The center, housed in a converted logistics building about 15 miles from the Gaza border, opened last week with roughly 200 American personnel as well as smaller contingents from at least eight other countries.
By the weekend, the sight of Americans in uniform had become routine. “Big guys, all in perfect formation,” one shopkeeper at the BIG mall told the Walla news site, “like they came out of a Hollywood movie.”
Cafes, restaurants, and food delivery services have been “working around the clock” to accommodate the city’s new foreign guests. On social media, commenters called the deployment “a new world order,” noting that Kiryat Gat was trending for the first time in years — and not because of pop star Ninet Tayeb, still the city’s most famous export.
City officials have leaned into the moment. Mayor Kfir Swisa publicly welcomed the deployment, telling residents the personnel were “received with open arms,” framing the center as both a security asset and an unexpected local boon. Senior U.S. officials have visited the site in quick succession, including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said U.S. ambassador to Yemen Steven Fagin would oversee the civilian side of operations, while U..S Central Command’s Adm. Brad Cooper would handle the military track, including Hamas’s disarmament.
During an interview on Channel 12’s current-affairs program, host Avri Gilad asked Swisa whether the arrival of the Americans had changed life in the city. Swisa replied that it “puts Kiryat Gat on the map,” adding that “now the Americans have also realized what many young Israelis already know” — that the city’s location near the cross-country Highway 6, its rail link, and its “rich cultural and sports scene” make it an appealing place to be.
Gilad cut in, “They didn’t come here for the sports life.” He went on to ask if there had been “any new love interests,” echoing online chatter about whether romances might bloom between U.S. soldiers and local women, before inquiring how many McDonald’s branches Kiryat Gat has.
“They haven’t asked for a hamburger yet,” Swisa said. “They’re enjoying the local Kiryat Gat food.”
The BIG shopping complex where the American soldiers have been spotted is in Carmei Gat, a neighborhood whose rapid growth prompted one mainstream Israeli newspaper to dub Kiryat Gat as the new capital of the Negev, overtaking Beersheba as the region’s commercial hub. A new housing agreement set to be signed later this week in the presence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will add 21,000 apartments in Carmei Gat, doubling Kiryat Gat’s size and making it one of the 10 largest cities in Israel.
The neighborhood is also home to evacuees from Nir Oz, the Gaza envelope kibbutz that was relocated there after being attacked on Oct. 7. One convenience store owner, Shai Avisror, himself displaced from Kibbutz Zikim, said anyone arriving in uniform gets a free coffee or cold drink.
“Soldiers are the holy of holies,” he told one reporter, though it’s unclear if the same rule applies to the Americans.
Not everyone shared Swisa’s enthusiasm, with some residents warning that the American presence would endanger the city. “Until now it was relatively quiet here, and now we have become a strategic target,” one commenter wrote. Another wrote that the deployment would give “Hamas, Iran and the Houthis a reason to launch missiles” at the city, and advised homeowners to start selling apartments quickly because “Kiryat Gat is about to become Ofakim” — a reference to the Gaza envelope town that was attacked on Oct. 7. A third commented that while the city now boasted “a U.S. command center,” it still lacked “a cinema, a vehicle-testing station, a pub or even one good restaurant open on weekends.”
He added, “Thank God we are on Highway 6 and can get away fast.”
One commenter went further, alleging that the Americans were “FEMA soldiers” forming a multinational force that would eventually replace the IDF and police “in preparation for a single world government,” a conspiracy theory tied to claims about “Agenda 2030.”
Much of the commentary reflected a broader unease over who is now directing events in Gaza. One user warned that “the Americans are only the beginning,” predicting “an airlift of Turkish and Indonesian soldiers soon and God knows who else they’ve sold us to.” Referring to Netanyahu as “Trump’s prime minister,” one commenter tied the moment to the dispute over the haredi draft, writing that with ultra-Orthodox men refusing to enlist, “there’s no choice now but to bring in American reinforcements.”
Netanyahu has said he would not allow the deployment of Turkish troops in Gaza and insisted that Israel remains fully sovereign, telling his cabinet that it “does not seek anyone’s approval” for actions carried out there.
Critics say the Kiryat Gat command center reflects a mismatch between its stated purpose and Israel’s main security priorities, focusing on humanitarian coordination and ceasefire maintenance rather than disarmament and anti-smuggling operations. Meir Ben Shabbat, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy and a former national security adviser, wrote in the Israel Hayom daily that Israel “must eliminate the vagueness concerning headquarters and mediation and coordination entities” and explain what the center will actually contribute toward achieving Israel’s objectives in Gaza.
But for now, the relationship between the U.S. soldiers and their newly adopted city is still in a honeymoon period. An AI-generated video circulating on social media and shared by the city showed an American soldier speaking fluent Hebrew and praising Kiryat Gat’s “falafel, with tahina and amba — just delicious.”
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