Arts & Entertainment

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 8 incredible Israeli shows you may not have heard of

With the beginning of a tumultuous new decade, there have been some silver linings – it’s pretty clear that Israel is dominating the global television space today. Not even a pandemic can stop Israel from coming out on top.

BY BRANDON SCHUSTER

It’s no secret that for more than a decade now, Hollywood has turned toward Israel to look for new show formats that could be adapted well for English-language audiences. Award-winning hit series adapted from Israeli shows, like HBO’s In Treatment and Showtime’s Homeland, have helped Israel become the third-largest content exporter in the U.S. over the past decade, just behind the U.K. and the Netherlands, an incredible and unlikely feat for such a small country, and one that only just introduced commercial television to its citizens as recent as the ‘90s.

Successful U.S. series with major Israeli ties – including Netflix’s Unorthodox and HBO’s Euphoria – recently received a slew of Emmy nominations. Unorthodox landed the coveted nomination for best limited series and both shows saw their leading actresses, Shira Haas and Zendaya, nominated alongside major stars.

Yet when Israeli television is mentioned today, one of two shows usually follows in the conversation: Fauda or Shtisel. These shows have become bona fide and critically Boys spurred around the world (more on

As COVID-19 has shut down production adored hits on Netflix, well before the pandemic. In particular, the global success of Shtisel, five years after the show first aired in Israel, has led the beloved series about a haredi Orthodox family to be renewed for a new season that is currently shooting in Israel.

So what is it about Israeli shows that are so appealing and winning over millions of viewers from around the world? Even with smaller budgets to work with, Israeli series offer a unique cinematic appeal that most other television shows don’t have. The lack of budget has allowed for more focus on incredibly rich character development, brought to life by the Israeli and Palestinian that’s almost always rooted in conflict, a common theme that people who live in this Middle Eastern region face on a daily basis.

At the end of the day though, Israeli shows have one thing that most other shows around the world don’t necessarily have – chutzpah (even if that word has a completely different meaning in the Jewish state). Israeli series aren’t afraid to push the envelope and “go there.” And they’re certainly not afraid to be critical of their own country and downright controversial at times either. Look no further than the debate and controversy that HBO’s Our that below).

talents behind and in front of the camera, sets, North American broadcast networks and streaming platforms have been looking abroad to fill the void for new content in the coming months. A number of Israeli series have certainly benefited from this. In recent weeks, as a result, we’ve seen streaming platforms buying the international rights to and signing on as co-producers for some of Israel’s top series. Apple TV+ alone has added an unprecedented five Israeli productions and adaptations to its roster in recent months, including a limited series about Hedy Lamarr starring Gal Gadot, which was originally supposed to air on Showtime.

We’re at a very exciting point now when audiences and critics around the world are starting to discover that there are other fantastic Israeli series worthy to binge on beyond just Fauda and Shtisel. Here are eight Israeli shows that you might not have heard of yet – and that you should definitely start watching right now. Six of these shows are currently available for streaming here in North America, along with two other highly anticipated shows that you’ll be able to stream very soon.

STREAMING NOW:

False Flag (Hulu)

In this high-paced espionage and conspiracy thriller, five seemingly ordinary citizens find themselves wrapped up in the high-profile kidnapping of an Iranian government minister from his Moscow hotel room. The only catch is that they all claim that they weren’t even in Moscow and that they do not work for the Mossad.

After False Flag premiered to roaring success at the Berlinale Film Festival, Hulu scored the exclusive U.S. streaming rights for the anthology series. But stateside, it largely flew under the radar until recently. Many viewers have discovered the show in recent months after a handful of TV critics started pushing False Flag as a quality quarantine binge suggestion. Apple TV+ also recently bought the rights to produce an English-language adaptation called Suspicion, starring Academy Award nominee Uma Thurman. Filming for the new show started in March but was suspended during its first week of shooting due to the pandemic.

Stockholm (Topic / CBC)

When the front-runner for the Nobel Prize in Economics is found dead in his bed, his four closest friends scramble to keep him “alive” in the increasingly hectic days leading up to the big announcement. This Weekend at Bernie’s meets Grace and Frankie series is based on the popular novel by Noa Yedlin and has been a huge hit in Israel, where it airs on Kan 11. The cast of this hilarious dark comedy is also comprised of Israeli acting royalty, including Sasson Gabai (The Band’s Visit) and Tikva Dayan (The Golden Girls).

Stockholm was the first-ever Israeli show selected to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it earned a ton of buzz and critical raves. Shortly thereafter, the CBC, home to the Emmynominated hit Canadian series Schitt’s Creek, scooped up the rights to stream the Hebrew language show during its fall premiere season. In the U.S., when the new streaming platform Topic launched a few

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