Michael Che calls Israel’s violence in Gaza ‘genocide’ on ‘SNL’, co-host Colin Jost stunned

Commenting on voter participation, Che said: “This week, a record number of people voted in Israel’s election — which is great to see, regardless of if you’re on the right side, or the left side, or the genocide.”Weekend Update with Colin Jost and Michael Che!pic.twitter.com/gPYlZQs1dN— Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl)November 1, 2026The camera immediately cut to Jost, whose mouth dropped open in an exaggerated expression of shock.

He briefly looked around before continuing with the segment and moving on to a joke about an election controversy involving Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska. Che’s remark appeared to target Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political position and the country’s military campaign in Gaza against Hamas.

The joke referenced the wider international controversy surrounding the conflict, with several international bodies, human rights organisations, legal experts and governments describing Israel’s actions in Gaza as genocide. The political exchange was among the most talked-about moments of the Weekend Update segment, which also featured Ben Marshall appearing as a reformed Pennywise the Clown.

Che and Jost have regularly used the segment to address political developments through satire, although this particular remark prompted an especially striking on-camera reaction from Jost.