Published: 28 May 2019
Last updated: 4 March 2024
I recently began wondering why these shows hold so much appeal for me. This is despite the fact that they are often shown here several years after their release.
As someone who lived in Israel for 10 years I think it helps me to feel connected to a formative time in my life; navigating my first full-time work, having kids, buying a home, etc. The benefit of watching these shows in the Diaspora is, of course, the English subtitles, which certainly makes viewing a more effortless experience. Maybe my Hebrew just wasn’t up to scratch at the time, but it feels like there has been a marked improvement in the subtlety and plot development from the sitcoms I used to watch.
What really appeals to me is that these shows offer insights into Israeli society that I never felt able to fully access as an English speaking olah (immigrant). One of my early favourites was Srugim, which depicts the trials and tribulations of the modern Orthodox dating scene in Israel. Filmed in the same neighbourhoods of Jerusalem that I lived in, it was bizarrely familiar, yet the expectations on the characters around dating and marriage were very different.
While I am a lot less familiar with the alleyways of the ultra-Orthodox Geula in Jerusalem, the makers of the hit series Shtisel have done a masterful job of peeking into the lives of this often cloistered community without making it feel overly voyeuristic. It, too, focuses on the dating scene and marriages of the main characters, humanising them to a non ultra-Orthodox audience. Apparently even some haredim were tempted to see how they were portrayed and eagerly watched the series, in secret. News that there will be a third season has been met with great acclaim.
I was bereft when I finished the second season and thought about joining one of the two online Shtisel Facebook forums. However, both groups warned there were more than 10 posts a day. I didn't think I needed more ways to waste time so resisted. But I did fangirl the Michael Aloni page.
I went on to watch Aloni in When Heroes Fly. While I enjoyed this suspenseful drama which tells the story of four Israeli army buddies searching for their friend in the jungles of Colombia, I found the flashbacks to their battles in Lebanon more intriguing. Army life is such a core, defining part of Israeli society, something I never participated in as a female immigrant who came in her 20s.
However, it’s clearly not just me who is interested in learning more about this part of Israeli society. Both hugely popular, Fauda and Hatufim (Prisoners of War) are based on the experience of soldiers in the West Bank and Lebanon respectively. While Fauda borders on sanitising the actions required to maintain the Occupation, it also shows the heavy cost that the soldiers pay to control a hostile Palestinian population.
In Hatufim the mental and physical impact of being held hostage in Lebanon for 17 years is central to the storyline of the three Israeli hostages. This show screened while Gilad Shalit was being held captive in Gaza and seemed unnervingly realistic at the time, even though I am sure Shalit’s experience was different and awful in its own way. While I enjoyed watching the American adaptation of Hatufim, Homeland, it seemed contrived and unrealistic.
The mythic Mossad is another aspect of Israeli society that people are fascinated by and was the base for the hilarious show Mossad 101. Another entertaining comedy was Hashoter Hatov (The Good Cop). While it’s the opposite of PC, it cleverly touches on a numberof issues in Israeli society from a cringeworthy but very accessible angle.
One of the most confusing parts of watching so many Israeli shows is how there seems to be such a relatively small pool of actors, so your favourite star keeps appearing in very different roles.
My Israeli friends tell me that I am behind in my viewing, but I am struggling to find access to some of the more recent popular series, including the award winning comedy Shababnikim (which follows four Haredi roommates studying at Yeshiva, with three of them more focused on stretching the limits of appropriate behaviour), and the dystopian drama Autonomies, which depicts a secular state of Tel Aviv and a religious fundamentalist Haredi autonomy in Jerusalem. I can’t wait to see both but from a time management perspective, it's probably for the best that they haven't been picked up by Netflix, yet.
