“There’s a joke that anyone with a laptop in a Tel Aviv cafe must be writing a TV series,” Israeli producer Maya Fischer said.
Here are the shows everyone is talking about.
Munich Games (TV Series, Sky Atlantic)
Munich Games is a thriller set 50 years after the Palestinian terror organization Black September Group attacked the Olympic Village, leaving 11 members of Israel’s team dead. To mark the anniversary, a friendly football match is set up between teams from Tel Aviv and Munich to symbolize a new era of reconciliation in Israeli-German relations. Oren Simon, a Mossad agent stationed in Berlin, intercepts a message in a dark web forum, however, just days before the game. He is partnered with Maria Köhler, a German State Criminal Police officer with Lebanese roots, to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Fauda revolves around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and star Lior Raz, the series co-writer and actor, who plays a former Special Forces soldier forced to confront his violent past. The New York Times rated Fauda the best international show of 2017 and it continues to get stronger every year.
A covert operative from Argentina infiltrates the Jewish community with the intention of collecting intelligence, unknowingly laying the foundation for future anti-Semitic terrorist acts. Several years later, he makes the decision to expose the truth. Yosi is based on a true story about José Pérez, who changed his first name to the Hebrew name Yosi, when he converted in 1988. Hewas sent undercover by the government to confirm an antisemitic conspiracy theory about Argentine Jews. A book about the story, has been turned into an Amazon TV series of the same name - and it’s a source of shock for his former rabbi. (Streaming in Spanish and English)
Lior Raz, star and creator of Hit and Run, plays a former warrior lured out of retirement
Hit and Run (TV Series, Netflix)
Fauda creators Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz are also behind Hit and Run, a spine-tingling drama about a man searching for the truth behind his wife's death. Raz, who stars in the series, becomes caught up in a dangerous web of secrets and intrigue that stretches from New York to Tel Aviv.
Glenn Close joins Niv Sultan for Tehran's action-packed series
Tehran (TV series, Apple TV+, Netflix)
Niv Sultan stars as Tamar Rabinyan, a Mossad hacker smuggled into Iran to help blow up a nuclear site. Tamar is barely out of the airport before she’s spotted by a former Army colleague and her mission must change. Haaretz newspaper describes Tehran as an 'estrogen-charged' suspense story that has more in common with the US spy series Homeland (also available on Netflix) than Fauda.
Watch the trailer Mossad spies, hackers, and villains are dominating our screens with shadowy thrillers from Fauda to Tehran, The Spy, and Mossad 101 but there are plenty more in production.
This story is part of our weekly briefing. Sign up to receive the FREE briefing to your inbox.
“There’s a joke that anyone with a laptop in a Tel Aviv cafe must be writing a TV series,” Israeli producer Maya Fischer said.
Here are the shows everyone is talking about.
Munich Games (TV Series, Sky Atlantic)
Munich Games is a thriller set 50 years after the Palestinian terror organization Black September Group attacked the Olympic Village, leaving 11 members of Israel’s team dead. To mark the anniversary, a friendly football match is set up between teams from Tel Aviv and Munich to symbolize a new era of reconciliation in Israeli-German relations. Oren Simon, a Mossad agent stationed in Berlin, intercepts a message in a dark web forum, however, just days before the game. He is partnered with Maria Köhler, a German State Criminal Police officer with Lebanese roots, to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Fauda revolves around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and star Lior Raz, the series co-writer and actor, who plays a former Special Forces soldier forced to confront his violent past. The New York Times rated Fauda the best international show of 2017 and it continues to get stronger every year.
A covert operative from Argentina infiltrates the Jewish community with the intention of collecting intelligence, unknowingly laying the foundation for future anti-Semitic terrorist acts. Several years later, he makes the decision to expose the truth. Yosi is based on a true story about José Pérez, who changed his first name to the Hebrew name Yosi, when he converted in 1988. Hewas sent undercover by the government to confirm an antisemitic conspiracy theory about Argentine Jews. A book about the story, has been turned into an Amazon TV series of the same name - and it’s a source of shock for his former rabbi. (Streaming in Spanish and English)
Lior Raz, star and creator of Hit and Run, plays a former warrior lured out of retirement
Hit and Run (TV Series, Netflix)
Fauda creators Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz are also behind Hit and Run, a spine-tingling drama about a man searching for the truth behind his wife's death. Raz, who stars in the series, becomes caught up in a dangerous web of secrets and intrigue that stretches from New York to Tel Aviv.
Glenn Close joins Niv Sultan for Tehran's action-packed series
Tehran (TV series, Apple TV+, Netflix)
Niv Sultan stars as Tamar Rabinyan, a Mossad hacker smuggled into Iran to help blow up a nuclear site. Tamar is barely out of the airport before she’s spotted by a former Army colleague and her mission must change. Haaretz newspaper describes Tehran as an 'estrogen-charged' suspense story that has more in common with the US spy series Homeland (also available on Netflix) than Fauda.
Watch the trailer Mossad spies, hackers, and villains are dominating our screens with shadowy thrillers from Fauda to Tehran, The Spy, and Mossad 101 but there are plenty more in production.
Haley Bennett and Chris Evans in The Red Sea Diving Resort
The Red Sea Diving Resort (Film, Netflix, Prime Video)
Ethiopian Jews caught in a civil war are rescued by Mossad operatives using a Sudan diving school as a cover. Chris Evans stars as a Mossad agent who helps smuggle thousands of refugees to Israel in this film based on a true story. When you're done, you may also want to listen to the real-life story with Mossad officer Gad Shimron.
Sacha Baron Cohen offers a masterful portrayal of Eli Cohen, the Mossad agent embedded in Syria before the 1967 Six-Day War. The actor describes The Spy as “a superhero story of sorts. He's a deputy accountant in a supermarket who ends up becoming arguably the most successful spy of the 20th century.”
Comrades from the Second Lebanon War are traumatized when they fly to Colombia. Their journey into the jungle takes a dark turn amid a secret war. Hurt Locker writer and producer Mark Boal is adapting When Heroes Fly for Apple.
The Operative (Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV)
Yuval Adler's The Operative is a taut psychological thriller about a Western woman (Diane Kruger) recruited by Mossad to go undercover in Tehran. She becomes entangled in a complex triangle with her handler (Martin Freeman) and her subject (Cas Anvar). Based on Yiftach R. Atir's book, The English Teacher.
An Israeli-American miniseries focusing on the kidnapping, murder, and investigation of three Israeli teens allegedly by Palestinian militants from Hamas. The series is based on the real-life deaths of young Israeli and Palestinian teenagers that triggered the 2014 Israeli-Gaza conflict. Read more
Liron Vaisman in Mossad 101
Mossad 101 (TV series, Netflix)
Cadets train to be Mossad spies in this action drama set at a fictional compound, HaMidrasha, where they are surrounded by surveillance cameras. Mossad 101 has an eclectic cast that includes one of Israel’s best comedians, Hana Laszlo, and actor/singer Yehoram Gaon.
Egyptian billionaire Ashraf Marwan wades into a game of high-stakes espionage when he contacts Israel on the eve of a war. The Angel is based on the true story of Marwan, a Mossad spy who may have been an Egyptian double agent.
The Patriots (Film, Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, YouTube)
Ariel Brenner (Yvan Attal), 18, moves from Paris to Israel to join Mossad in Les Patriots (1994). His first mission brings him back to his home to steal secrets from French atomic scientist Remy Prieur.
Prisoners of War, the basis for the US spy series Homeland (also available on Netflix), is a character-driven tale involving two Israelis brought back from captivity in Lebanon after 17 years.
False Flag: Five strangers discover they are wanted for kidnapping
False Flag (TV series, Hulu, Prime Video in some countries)
False Flag revolves around five strangers who discover from the media that they are suspected of kidnapping Iran’s defense minister. An American remake debuted on Apple TV+ in 2022. Suspicion, an eight-episode drama, stars Uma Thurman.
Four men invade the home of a surgeon who is about to operate on Israel’s prime minister. The doctor’s family is held hostage. The kidnappers have one demand: ensure the prime minister dies. The US remake on Netflix stars Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott.
Steven Spielberg’s Munich is the real-life story of Mossad’s Operation Wrath of God. The 2005 film starring Daniel Craig (above, right) involves the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the Israeli government’s retaliation.
7 Days in Entebbe is a thriller based on a true story. Israeli Defense Forces’ commandos undertook a daring rescue mission in 1976 when an Air France flight from Tel Aviv was hijacked.
Operation Finalefollows the 1960 mission of Mossad agent Peter Malkin as he infiltrates Argentina and captures Adolf Eichmann (Ben Kingsley), the Nazi officer who masterminded the logistics that sent millions of Jews to their deaths.
Was Egyptian billionaire Ashraf Marwan a Mossad spy or a double agent? In 2007, Marwan fell from the balcony of his fifth-floor flat in London but it is unclear whether he jumped or was pushed. If you liked The Angel (see above), you will enjoy the documentary The Spy Who Fell to Earth.
This story is part of our weekly briefing. Sign up to receive the FREE briefing to your inbox.
Gadgets & Gifts
Put your spy skills to work with these fabulous choices from secret notepads & invisible inks to Hacker hoodies & high-tech handbags. We also have an exceptional range of rare spy books, including many signed first editions.
We all have valuable spy skills - your mission is to discover yours. See if you have what it takes to be a secret agent, with our authentic spy skills evaluation* developed by a former Head of Training at British Intelligence. It's FREE so share & compare with friends now!
.jpg)
.jpg)
%20(1).jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
