US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro appearing on popular Israeli TV Show "State of the Union." Photo: Screen shot.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro was placed in a different kind of hot seat earlier this week, appearing on Israel’s popular satirical program “State of the Union,’ broadcast by Israel’s Channel 2.

The hosts of the program needled Shapiro endlessly throughout the 12-and-a-half minute interview, joking about everything from his lifestyle (“You threw an Independence Day party at your house, you marched in the Gay Day parade and you live on the beachfront. How can I be sure you’re the ambassador and not a college student?”), the relationship between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (“How do you convince Obama to answer the phone when Bibi [Netanyahu] calls?”), to the peace process with the Palestinian Authority (“President Obama sent you here among other reasons, to further the American peace plan for the Mideast. He might as well have sent Jerry Seinfeld, right? He is a Jew and an American and has a program about nothing, too.”)

Shapiro took it all in stride, even responding with his own brand of wit, with one host asking, “Wouldn’t it have been much more fun to do this off the record?” to which he responded, laughing, “Much more fun.”

Watch a video of the episode below: