Israel Police arrested Arab-Israeli comedian Nidal Badarny on Monday after he made jokes about the hostages held in Hamas captivity during his recent standup performances.

The arrest comes after several of Badarny's standup shows were canceled recently due to jokes made about the hostages and the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023.

Badarny referred to the show cancellations prior to his arrest as "very unfortunate and very sad. Even in your country, it is forbidden to talk, joke, and laugh," he wrote in a Facebook post on Friday. 

Badarny's arrest was partially due to complaints filed against him by the CEO of the human rights organization Btsalmo, Shai Glick, according to a Monday Walla report.

The report added that Badarny's arrest was handled by the Northern District Police. He was taken to a police station in Haifa, where a lawyer was summoned to advise him before his interrogation.

Israel police car (Illustrative) (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Israel police car (Illustrative) (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Police reportedly called Badarny in for questioning earlier on Monday. However, when he delayed coming to the station and requested to alternatively arrive on Tuesday instead, the police arrested him at his home, the Walla report said. 

Condemnation of Badarny's arrest

MK Ahmad Tibi strongly condemned Badary's arrest in a Monday X/Twitter post.

"Nidal Badarny, an Arab comedian, was arrested this evening on charges of 'joking about the hostages.' He didn’t call for burning Palestinians with gasoline like Ofer Levy did, nor did he use genocidal rhetoric like some Israeli artists have recently. He simply made jokes—dark humor," Tibi wrote.

"His performances were blocked by the Israeli police, who fail to address the numerous murders happening but somehow find the time to crack down on an Arab comedian’s shows," the post continued. 

"At least he didn’t physically attack hostage families, didn’t curse them, and didn’t vote against their return," Tibi added.

Tibi also explained that "Dark humor can be sharp or unsettling—that’s the nature of comedy. But when it comes to Arabs, it seems the joke ends very quickly. Jewish singers can call for burning Palestinians, but an Arab comedian using dark humor? He gets arrested."

A clip of Badarny appearing on KAN News shows him filming himself in his car and making a joke about the Hamas ceremonies that have taken place ahead of the recent release of Israeli hostages as part of the ceasefire-hostage deal.

In these releases, hostages have received certifications from the terror group for completing time in captivity.

"The way I saw the female Israeli prisoners be released home wearing workout clothing, it looks like the certification [they received from Hamas] is part of their completion of a course for pilates," Badarny is seen saying in the video.