Many Internet users congratulated the Lebanese employee on his reaction.

At the end of the line on the TV set, in Egyptian dialect and to the laughter of his colleagues, host Eli Yatzpan, in suit and tie, called the hotel and asked the receptionist, who introduced himself as Ayoub, if the establishment had any places available to accommodate “30, 40, 50,000” Israelis, in the wake of the conflict in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

?صدق أو لا تصدق
إذاعة إسر.ائيل تتصل ب "سيزر اوتيل"
في بيروت??

▪️أرادوها نكتة، فجاء الرد صاعق من موظف الاستعلامات??

▪️استلم pic.twitter.com/H9l1RoogSb

— Raymond Hakim (@RaymondFHakim) May 22, 2024

For almost eight months, the war between Hezbollah and Israel has displaced more than 93,000 Lebanese from the south and around 60,000 Israelis living in the north of their country.

During the telephone exchange, the comedian says to the employee: “This is the Caesar Hotel, I'm calling from Israel, you know, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iran and the Houthis are attacking us from all sides ... and we need a hotel.” The receptionist replies, “Where are you from?” “From the State of Israel ... there are 50-60,000 of us and we need a hotel, how many hotels do you have in Beirut?” The receptionist calmly blurts out, “Go to hell!."

On social networks, there was no shortage of reactions congratulating the young man and denouncing the “mean-spirited” nature of the prank.

Contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour, Ayoub Saleh, an employee at Caesar's Park Hotel for seven years, recounts that the hoax took place in the afternoon a few days ago. “I thought it was just someone letting off steam in private, but I didn't expect it to be broadcast on TV,” said the Syrian national, who arrived in Lebanon “legally” eight years ago. “Once I hung up, I told my colleague what had happened. We laughed about it and moved on,” he said.

It was not until Monday that Saleh discovered the footage online when a friend sent him the video in question. “The call was insolent, especially when you see the massacres committed by Israel. There's no respect,” he said.

Since Tuesday, the receptionist has been besieged by calls of a different kind: “Lebanese people, especially from the diaspora, are contacting the hotel to congratulate me and thank me. It makes me very happy!”

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.