Gadot joins satirical broadcast amid split polls

Israeli voters faced a night of uncertainty on Tuesday as exit polls indicated that neither political camp had secured a definitive victory. In response, Channel 12 split its satirical program Eretz Nehederet into two distinct segments. The first half aired before the polls closed, while the second half followed the release of inconclusive results.

Gal Gadot, the Israeli-born Hollywood actor, headlined the special. She joined the regular cast to entertain a divided audience during the final hour of voting. Her participation served as the centerpiece of the broadcast, drawing on her status as a national figure who had recently returned to the public eye.

In the first segment, a sketch featured the character Asher, a talkative taxi driver played by Yuval Semo. The scene depicted Gadot arriving at an airport and entering his cab. The dialogue captured the sentiment of the more than 70,000 Israelis who traveled from abroad to cast their ballots.

Gadot explained to Asher that she had lived overseas for nearly 12 years. She noted the difficulty of maintaining her identity as an Israeli and a Jew in Hollywood amid rising antisemitism. "It's hard these days to be an Israeli abroad," she said in the skit. She mentioned wearing masks in public and trying to explain the geopolitical context to American audiences.

The actress stated that she planned to return to Israel with her husband and four daughters, three of whom were born in the United States. The family was in the process of building a house in the country. When frustrated by traffic in the skit, Gadot took the wheel of the cab and drove it into the clouds to reach a polling station in time.

The opening sketch of the broadcast depicted political opponents as professional wrestlers. Mariano Eidelman, portraying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, threw a large gold suitcase containing cash, referencing the Qatari funds sent to Hamas. Yuval Semo, playing Gadi Eisenkot, wielded a sawed-off shotgun. The absurd costumes and weaponry mocked the intensity of the campaign.

A panel discussion segment featured host Eyal Kitzis and cast members playing Channel 12 analysts. Roy Bar Natan, portraying political analyst Amit Segal, was shown writing a victory speech for Netanyahu, a jab at allegations that Segal advised the prime minister on campaign rhetoric. Liat Harlev, as Tali Gotliv, made increasingly urgent phone calls that went unanswered.

Another sketch showed Netanyahu in a shopping mall, brandishing a toy ceramic mushroom cloud. This referenced an artificial intelligence image released by his office showing Tel Aviv destroyed by an Iranian nuclear bomb. The show also mocked Naftali Bennett for spending so much time with informal political groups that he missed his voting slot.

In the second half of the broadcast, the writers addressed the lack of a clear winner. A game show sketch featured Eisenkot, Bennett, and Avigdor Liberman attempting to retract their campaign promises. The leaders of the People of Israel Party appeared on stage, frustrated that their party had not gained enough votes to enter the Knesset.

Yoseph Haddad, played by Eli Finish, expressed disbelief that he remained the only unelected Arab politician, noting that other Arab parties had performed better than expected. A separate sketch showed a grim-faced Netanyahu at the defense headquarters, claiming he was launching a war with Iran to consolidate his power. The broadcast ended with Kitzis handing the show directly to news anchor Yonit Levi, skipping his usual sign-off about the country's wonders.