On the one hand, the “Fauda” series evokes reluctance and barely concealed rejection, even by some media in Israel. On the other hand it arises admiration, not only among Jews. The Left criticizes the film’s military message. The Right tries to tie her to its carriage. And the creators, although they are far from political manifestos, convince the world that Israel must be ruthless in the war against terrorism.

“You’ve already had military victories and control over the image of Israeli occupation in culture: at least give Palestinians a possibility to hate “Fauda”. Is international and commercial success on Netflix serving Israel’s writings not enough for you?” – asked the Israeli writer and columnist Sayed Kashua in 2018 in the left-wing daily Haaretz. This harsh comment came after the premiere of the third season of the series, in which the creators dealt with the plight of Palestinians the most of any series.

In 2022, Sheren Falah Saab wrote in the same newspaper that in the fourth season of “Fauda” the Palestinians are still an object serving the Israeli narrative. One that can be stepped on, trampled, cursed and called a son of a bitch”.

Created in 2014 by Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, a journalist (employee of Haaretz, among others), the series is sometimes seen as a tool for spreading Israeli nationalist political and historical perception. At the same time, even its critics find it hard to deny its extraordinary realism.

Lennon will not fight terrorism

Lior Raz was a commando in the elite anti-terrorist unit Sayaret Duvdevan, whose soldiers work undercover. In 1990, Raza’s girlfriend was murdered in Jerusalem. A Palestinian terrorist stabbed her with a 15 cm knife. He was released from prison in 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange in exchange for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after five years. Hamas traded him for over a thousand Islamic terrorists.

Raz went to the USA, where he worked in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s security, which may have encouraged him to return to Israel to act as an actor. The artistic teaming up of an ex-soldier whose girlfriend was murdered by a Palestinian with Issacharoff, a journalist for the liberal Israeli media, produced an astonishing result. “Fauda” has become a phenomenon that, on the one hand, outrages pretentious aesthetes who believe that terrorism can be fought with the help of John Lennon’s songs, and on the other hand, it opened many Israelis’ eyes to the fate of Palestinians.

Lior Raz said in interviews that after the first season, he received a lot of emails from Israelis, who for the first time felt sympathy for Palestinians. At the same time, the series removes the veil of silence from what is happening in the lives of the soldiers who are on the front lines of the fight for Israel's security. Once he plays the lead role of Doron Kavillio, who pays the highest personal price for his service in four seasons. Hamas murders his family members, his marriage breaks down, and post-traumatic stress disorder is the smallest affliction that massacres his psyche. SIGN UP TO OUR PAGE The rest of the characters in the squad are equally solidly written and well played. Their family problems, nervous breakdowns, wounds and death (I will not make spoilers for those who have not seen the series) in each subsequent season aroused surprisingly strong emotions in me, and yet as a film critic I am immune to film manipulation. The truth about the essence of brotherhood in arms, which can be seen in the best war stories, resounds here. The war on terror can never be completely won. Eliminating one leader immediately brings about the creation of several new ones. Ultimately, you can only try to control the world of terrorism and defend your friends. “Fauda” proves it just perfectly.

It is an honest story about male friendship, sacrifice and family ties that can save, but also lead to damnation. Not only do we look into the homes of Israeli commandos and their commanders, seeing the price that their families pay for their service, but we begin to understand what makes that a ruthless and brutal terrorist, for example is made of a promising athlete, a sensitive boy from a “good home” or ordinary women who turn into bloodthirsty istishhads (martyrs).

On the commando side

The creators of “Fauda” show how the brutality of Israeli troops (already in the first episode of the series we see how a Jewish squad kills an innocent groom at a wedding where a wanted terrorist was supposed to appear), spy games devoid of moral and ethical inhibitions and pure chance can push every Arab into the hands of Hamas, ISIS or Hezbollah. Out of revenge, frustration, fear or the desire to impress those around you.

But we also see Palestinians who reject terrorism and suffer from Hamas’ revenge. There are also many threads showing that Islam does not necessarily lead to terrorism. In fact, when ISIS beheads the father of one of the main characters, the family is comforted by his Muslim neighbors.

The creators of “Fauda” do a lot to prevent the image of the conflict from being one-dimensional, for which they are criticized by many Jews. Wrongly, because they do everything to show the full spectrum of the problem of the war on Palestinian terror. Personal, social and political one. But they don’t do one thing. They do not condemn their own country for its policy on terrorism. We see this world through the eyes of Israelis, which means that anyone who believes that Palestine is occupied by Jews will reject the series on principle.

The American columnist Yasmeen Serhan (who openly admits that she is Arab and Muslim) in an article for “The Atlantic” entitled “Watching the Israeli series <> as a Palestinian” wrote that she would not enjoy such violence in any film or series, but watching this production made it even more difficult for her, because the nameless and dialogueless characters who die on the screen are people to her. However, she did not add whether she also considered them freedom fighters.

This is the essence of the criticism of “Fauda”. For me, Israel has an undeniable right to defend its security, while Islamic terrorism and religious fanaticism are contrary to the values of the Western world and should be stopped. So it is clear that I am on the side of the commandos from “Fauda”.

But how can “Fauda” affect those who learn about the war on terror mainly through pop culture? The creators of the series are consistently “selling” the Jewish narrative of the war on terror to the world via Netflix, and do not fall into the trap of political correctness.

Israel is building

The American series “24” (2001-10) began as the neo-con armed wing of Bush politics after the attacks of September 11, 2001 (even Senator John McCain appeared in one episode). The co-creator of “24” Joel Surnow even argued in the liberal “New Yorker” that the series helped build patriotism in America after the WTC attacks, and soldiers in Iraq watched it passionately. Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, pursued, killed and tortured Islamic terrorists for the sake of US security in 9 seasons.

The series justified “enhanced interrogation techniques” and rationalized breaking international procedures and laws if it could save lives. Surnow prided himself on the love of the Bush and Chaney administrations for his vision. However, over the years, when the place of the neocons in the White House was taken by the Democrat Barack Obama (by the way, it was the “24” that first created the character of the black US president), and the American Right wing began to turn towards the isolationist wing of the Tea Party, the creators greatly softened the message. Subsequent series about the fight against terrorism, such as “Homeland” (based on the Israeli format) (2011) also went in the direction far from neoconservative perception.

However, “Fauda” after season 4, which debuted on Netflix in January 2023, still keeps the course set 9 years ago. It is unknown if there will be another season. The finale of the latest installment is very bloody and symbolic, and Netflix has adopted a policy of not extending the series to too many seasons.

Two years ago, Al Jazeera columnist Yara Hawari stigmatized Netflix for producing not only the “dehumanizing Palestinians” “Fauda”, but also the miniseries “Spy” (2020) starring Sacha Baron Cohen as – based on a real one – Mossad agent Eli Cohen, and “Messiah” (2020), which, despite being well received, was canceled by Netflix after one season. HBO also got the Israeli series "Our Boys" (2019) about the outbreak of the conflict in the Gaza Strip. It didn’t help that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw criticism of the State of Israel and anti-Semitism in the production and called for a boycott of it.

In her text, Hawari threatened Arab actors who take part in this “racist and dehumanizing” Palestinian series and pointed out that Israel is building its mass audience propaganda with the help of Netflix.

I can agree that “Fauda” may contribute to spreading the Israeli perspective on what is happening in her relations with Palestine. However, this view triumphs not because of the one-dimensional image, but precisely because of the complexity of the script. At times it is difficult to distinguish whether what we see is fiction or perhaps an image from the news that from time to time informs us about the bloody information from the streets of Jerusalem or other parts of Israel.

This distinguishes the Israeli series from “24 Hours” used with exaggerated drama by Jacek Bauer (eventually captured by the Russians) and the pompousness typical for the Hollywood.

Impudent patriotism

“Fauda” remains predatory, street and realistic. It is also a brazenly ... patriotic production. In the first episodes of the fourth season, a Jewish unit goes to Brussels to rescue its commander, who has been kidnapped by Hezbollah. We see Israeli commandos frustrated and enraged by EU bureaucratic barriers preventing them from launching operations. Only the behind-the-scenes intervention and the strong pressure of the Mossad agent, who once rescued the partner of the Belgian head of the operation from oppression, makes it possible for the Israeli unit shoulder to shoulder with the Belgian anti-terrorists to enter the building and shoot the terrorists.

The Moral? Without Israeli determination, courage and strength, even the capital of the European Union is powerless against those who, by the words of George W. Bush, “hate our way of life”.

“Fauda” is also free from the social revolution that has become synonymous with Netflix. The creators do not have to apply for gender quotas, because Israeli women serve in the army and are commanders of anti-terrorist units. Palestinian women also carry out attacks and, despite Islamic patriarchy, make sure that their husbands and sons do not deviate from the path of martyrs.

The creators of the series, however, remained resistant to including threads related to sexual minorities in the script, although in the last season one of the Palestinians cooperates with Jews, blackmailed that his orientation will be revealed “on the other side of the wall” – whatever it means. Is it surprising that in times of such strong pressure of political correctness with its armed arm in the form of the dictatorship of thought called cancel culture, the creators of “Fauda” go their own way, in line with the policy of their country? Not if we remember that for Hollywood the most important are green banknotes with the image of presidents.

As long as “Fauda” is a bestseller around the world, there will be no pressure on the creators to rewrite it according to the currently prevailing fashion in Western pop culture. Censoring own films for the Chinese market has shown that even the most pathetic ideas expressed with a concerned face at the Oscars can be easily monetized. Well, but the struggle for literal egalitarianism, which would probably amuse even Marx, is something else than defending one's homeland against the hatred of its neighbors.

“I am Israeli. I am a Jew. I am a Zionist. I have an Israeli look”, series co-creator Avi Issacharoff told the NYT, adding that anyone who sends a suicide bomber is a terrible person. “Most Palestinians know this very well in their hearts”, he confessed in an interview after the season 3 premiere.

Courageous defense of your own work? In the case of these creators, it's nothing special. They love their country and will defend its policies, “selling” their vision to the world. This is what an effective cultural policy of one’s own country is all about. It is not the first time that Poles should learn it from Jews.

– Łukasz Adamski
– Translated by Dominik Szczęsny-Kostanecki

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists