Eretz Nehederet
Eretz Nehederet is a satirical Israeli television show, which made its debut on November 7, 2003. It features satirical references to current affairs of the past week through parodies of the people involved, as well as the thoughts of recurring characters. The program's concept is inspired by Saturday Night Live, The Daily Show and others. The program is one of the most watched and influential shows on Israeli TV. It is also one of the longest-running scripted shows in Israeli television to date, running for 17 seasons as of 2019. Beginning with Season 15, the program is aired on Keshet 12, in HDTV.
It was first filmed in Tel Aviv, and in later seasons, was filmed in the neighboring Herzliya.
The show features a regular cast of comedians and actors, including Tal Friedman, Eyal Kitzis, Alma Zak, Orna Banai, Shani Cohen, Asi Cohen, Eli Finish, Mariano Edelman, Yuval Semo, Roey Bar-Natan, Eran Zarachovitch, Yaron Berlad, Maor Cohen and Dov Navon. During the third season, Asi Cohen started doing small roles on the show, and by the beginning of the fourth season, Cohen became a regular member.
Eretz Nehederet won the Israeli Television Academy's "Best Entertainment Program" in 2004 and again in 2006, and attracts millions of viewers every season. In a May 2008 poll, web surfers selected all the Season 5 Eretz Nehederet actors from into the top 60 Israeli comedians list. The top 7 spots were all taken by Eretz Nehederet, as well as #9 and #20.
In 2010, Erez Nehederet produced a satire feature film called Zohi Sdom.
Recurring parodies
- Uzi Cohen, former deputy mayor of Ra'anana and Likud central committee member, by Eli Finish
- Benjamin Netanyahu by Edelman
- Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes, wife of former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, by Orna Banai
- Shimon Peres by Eli Finish
- Pnina Rosenblum, model and sometime politician, by Edelman
- Shelly Yachimovich, journalist-turned-politician, by Tal Friedman
Characters
| Characters | Actor | Type |
| Baba Luba | Tal Friedman | Fictional |
| Hizki | Tal Friedman | Fictional |
| Mahmoud Abu Tir | Tal Friedman | Parody of Muhammad Abu Tir |
| Ariel Sharon | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Vladimir Putin | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Ehud Barak | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Ehud Olmert | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Haim Yavin | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Assi Dayan | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Uri Zohar | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Shosh Atari | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Adele | Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Modern Talking | Eli Finish, Tal Friedman | Real-life |
| Barack Obama | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Bashar al-Assad | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Shimon Peres | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Moshe Katsav | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Eli Yishai | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Yigal Amir | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Aviv Geffen | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Yuval "The Confused" | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Avi "Yossi" Mazaliko | Eli Finish | Fictional |
| Giovanni Rosso | Eli Finish | Real-life |
| Eyal Berkovic | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Itzik Zohar | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Diego Maradona | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Muammar Gaddafi | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Benjamin Netanyahu | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Shaul Mofaz | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Amir Peretz | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Yair Lapid | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Condoleezza Rice | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Margalit Tzan'ani | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Pnina Rosenblum | Mariano Edelman | Real-life |
| Dora the Explorer | Mariano Edelman | Cartoon character |
| Hillary Clinton | Alma Zack | Real-life |
| Yonit Levi | Alma Zack | Real-life |
| Galit Gutmann | Alma Zack | Real-life |
| Hanny Nahmias | Alma Zack | Real-life |
| Tzipi Shavit | Alma Zack | Real-life |
| Tzipi Livni | Alma Zack | Real-life |
| Limor Livnat | Orna Banai | Real-life |
| Ruhama Avraham | Orna Banai | Real-life |
| Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes | Orna Banai | Real-life |
| Raymond Abukasis | Orna Banai | Real-life |
| Sigal Azrieli | Orna Banai | Parody of Inbal Gavrieli |
| Avigdor Lieberman | Asi Cohen | Real-life |
| Gabi Ashkenazi | Asi Cohen | Real-life |
| Tal Brody | Asi Cohen | Real-life |
| Avi Nimni | Asi Cohen | Real-life |
| Mohammad Bakri | Asi Cohen | Real-life |
| Uri Geller | Asi Cohen | Real-life |
| Dedi Dadon | Asi Cohen | Fictional |
| Guy Zohar | Asi Cohen | Real-life |
| Yonah Shamir | Yuval Semo | Parody of Yitzhak Shamir |
| On Perlin | Yuval Semo | Fictional |
| Miri Regev | Yuval Semo | Real-life |
| Hassan Nasrallah | Yuval Semo | Real-life |
| Mosh Ben Ari | Yuval Semo | Real-life |
| George W. Bush | Maor Cohen | Real-life |
| Arik Einstein | Maor Cohen | Real-life |
| Zohar Argov | Maor Cohen | Real-life |
| Mosko Alkalai | Maor Cohen | Real-life |
| Gilad Tarhan | Maor Cohen | Parody of Gilad Erdan |
| Sofa Landver | Shany Cohen | Real-life |
| Dorit Beinisch | Shany Cohen | Real-life |
| Anastassia Michaeli | Shany Cohen | Real-life |
| Tzipi Livni | Shany Cohen | Real-life |
| Limor Livnat | Shany Cohen | Real-life |
| Miriam Feirberg | Roey Bar Natan | Real-life |
| Benny Gantz | Roey Bar Natan | Real-life |
| Danny Danon | Roey Bar Natan | Real-life |
| Gideon Sa'ar | Roey Bar Natan | Real-life |
| Ariel Atias | Roey Bar Natan | Real-life |
| Bamba's Baby | Yaron Barlad | Cartoon Character |
| Netta Barzilai | Tom Yaar | Real-life |
Notable sketches
In May 2010, a sketch played off tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and American President Barack Obama, with Netanyahu trying to smooth over differences as they meet in the White House. A series of accidents caused Netanyahu to set the American flag on fire, stomp on it, and then torch a copy of Obama's proposed Middle East peace plan.In November 2010, the group used the video game characters Angry Birds in a mock up peace treaty sketch. The skit satirized recent failed Israeli-Palestinian peace attempts. The video quickly went viral across the world. It received favorable coverage from a variety of independent blogs such as Digital Trends, Hot Air, and Intomobile, as well as from online news media agencies such as the Christian Science Monitor, Haaretz, The Guardian, and MSNBC.
In May 2016, the group created the "ISIS at the Eurovision" sketch.
Reactions
of Hamas has expressed his discontent with the way he was represented on the program.In a speech on March 21, 2013, President Barack Obama quipped that "any drama between me and my friend, Bibi, over the years was just a plot to create material for Eretz Nehederet. That's the only thing that was going on. We just wanted to make sure the writers had good material."
Canadian journalist and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell discussed the show on his podcast Revisionist History in an episode on satire. Gladwell discusses his own sadness at how American comedians like Tina Fey use satire to mock but never wish to have their point get across, and cites Eretz Nehederet as a key example of political satire done right.