The music sounds familiar, but the lyrics — a takeoff on Disney’s “Aladdin” — definitely don’t.
Hebrew speakers have been doing a double take since Wednesday as they’ve watched a new online clip inspired by the 1992
movie
.
The video, a parody tied to President Obama’s trip to Israel next week, rewrites the words to the song “Prince Ali.” Instead of featuring the arrival of Aladdin (disguised as the prince) at the Sultan’s palace, the scene now trumpets the visit by “President Barack” to Israel.
Creator Yuval Binder is so good at vocal imitation it’s impossible to tell exactly where he’s inserted his own voice over the original Hebrew dubbing, provided by legendary Israeli comic actor Tuvia Tzafir.
With humorous Hebrew rhymes, Binder comments on everything from the first African-American president’s political donors and
fitness
regimen to his photogenic looks and knack for marketing himself (which apparently isn’t as good as that of Yair Lapid). The women in the crowd admire “the handsome, clean-shaven, hunky and exotic Barack.” In a reference to birther conspiracies, they say he’s “half-black and half-white because his parents are Iraqi… Okay, that’s not true, but no one cares.”
There’s a mention of Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize, questions about the seriousness of his threats against Iran and a reference to his easy win over Mitt Romney. In addition, Binder’s lyrics anticipate that “Pollardwon’t be released from jail.”
For the big finale, the Genie talks tachlis, or gets to the bottom line, about why Obama is making his grand journey: “He’s mentioned that there’s some major chaos here, so that’s why he’s coming to the sh**ty Middle East. Welcome, President Barack!”
