Holocaust Humor in Israel as a Political Tool of the Left-Wing

As part of the narrative in the last few decades that seeks to reevaluate how the collective memory of the HolocaustHolocausthumor is conveyed to the Israeli public, left-wingLeft-wing scholars and intellectuals have claimed that Holocaust memory was and is politically manipulated by the right-wing to intensify a siege mentalitySiege mentality, present IsraelIsrael as an eternal victim, and elicit constant fear and paranoia to justify violent policies against the PalestiniansPalestinians in the occupied territories, and block opportunities for a peace treaty. Based on the literature in the fields of Holocaust commemorationHolocaustcommemoration, political agendas in Israel, and studies on humor, satireSatire, and parodyParody, this chapter traces how since the 1990s, Israeli HolocaustHolocausthumor humor, satireSatire, and parodyParody have been a part of the left-wingLeft-wing struggle against the right-wing that has governed Israel (with a few exceptions) since 1977. The analysis shows how speeches and declarations by right-wingers who use the Holocaust to characterize threats to the State of IsraelIsrael prompt the left-wing to produce Holocaust humor, satireSatire, and parodies that castigate these attitudes and beliefs as false and manipulative.