Israeli sketch comedy show portrays Trump as a conquering Roman emperor

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL: Israel's version of 'Saturday Night Live' showcased President Donald Trump as a conquering Roman emperor in a new musical sketch on Friday, October 24.

The Israeli sketch comedy show, 'Eretz Nehederet', shared the skit on social media with a caption in Hebrew, which translates to "Praise Emperor Donald" in English. 

Skit comes after Trump brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal

Yair Rosenberg, a staff writer for The Atlantic, reshared the show's skit on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday and pointed out that even with the language barrier, it was clear what the new musical number was portraying.

He wrote, "You don’t need to know Hebrew to get this gist of this sketch from Israel’s ‘SNL,’ about who’s really in charge in Israel today."

The video starts with a Trump-lookalike being carried onto the screen with golden arches with eagle wings behind him. 

Moreover, Centurion-dressed background dancers then do a version of the president’s signature stilted dance moves, which went viral in the past.

Meanwhile, the Trump look-alike is seen singing. He then asks, "Who brought all the hostages back. It took me less time than to cook a Big Mac. Then I said to 10,000 years of war, bye-bye!"

A bit later, a look-alike of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enters, and Trump says, "Not him again!"

Interestingly, this comes weeks after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement that saw all hostages being released and Israel withdrawing troops from Gaza to an "agreed-upon line."

Announcing the deal, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace."

"All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!" he added.

Trump says Israel’s counterterror strikes had his direct approval

Donald Trump said in an interview on Thursday that Israel’s counterterror operations following Hamas' October 7, 2023, attacks were conducted under his direct approval.

The POTUS said while speaking to Time magazine that he had "veto power" over several Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah and other militant groups in the region. 

"All of those attacks were done in auspices with, actually, with me directly. You know, with Israel doing the attacks, with the pagers and all that stuff," Trump said, while referencing the September 2024 Israeli intelligence operation that obliterated Hezbollah’s infrastructure using explosive beepers.

He further emphasized his close coordination with Israel and claimed that Netanyahu's government consistently sought his approval before major strikes.

"Look, Israel’s been very respectful of this country. And they let me know everything. And sometimes I’d say no, and they’d be respectful of that," the Republican leader added.