Everything from Israel’s Best Picture winners to its top drama series are now available to foreign audiences, thanks to online streaming and English subtitles.
In recent years, American audiences have become familiar with Israeli television through its frequent overseas adaptations. The most famous of these, of course, is the hit show Homeland, a take-off of the Israeli series Prisoners of War. But with the advent of online streaming, U.S. audiences no longer have to wait for an American outlet to pick up and remake Israel’s greatest hits. Instead, they can just watch the originals with English subtitles.
Case in point: Netflix. Of late, the media giant has quietly been acquiring the rights to some of the Jewish state’s best television and film. This month alone, they will have added the country’s new Best Picture winner and its newly-crowned Best Drama Series. Looking for something to watch over the weekend while escaping the winter chill? Here are a few recommendations:
Fauda
Added to Netflix on December 2, Fauda follows a team of undercover Israeli operatives who work within Palestinian communities to bring down a Hamas terrorist kingpin. As the team integrates into its surroundings, the lines between the Israelis and the Palestinians increasingly blur. Lauded for its realism and sympathetic, humanizing portrayals of Palestinian characters—including terrorists—the show draws on the expertise of its creators, including Haaretz and Times of Israel correspondent Avi Issacharoff. Much of its dialogue is in Arabic. In June, Fauda won Best Drama Series at Israel’s Ophir Awards.
B’nei Arubah (Hostages)
In 2013, Israeli producer and actor Chaim Sharir sold a story to both American and Israeli TV. The premise: After an Israeli surgeon is tapped to operate on the prime minister, a team of home invaders led by a decorated officer takes her family hostage, and demands that she kill the head of state on the operating table. In America, the prime minister became the president and the story became Hostages, a colossal flop starring Dylan McDermott and Toni Collette that was panned by reviewers and cancelled after one season. But in Israel, the story became the pulse-pounding B’nei Arubah, starring Yair Lotan and Ayelet Zurer, and was a hit not just in Israel but in Europe, too. Viewers’ only frustration will be having to wait for Netflix to add the show’s second Israeli season.