A new Israeli TV series has become available on Netflix this past week. Trust No One (הראש) is a suspenseful spy thriller about the functioning of Israel’s General Security Services agency, better known as the Shin Bet. The series was created by Ron Leshem, Amit Cohen, Daniel Amsel and directed by Ofir Lobel and was produced for Keshet (one of the major Israeli television networks) by Shenhar Productions.
The series
focuses on a fictional head of the Shin Bet, Itamar Molcho (played by Yehuda
Levi), his family, his elite team of top-level associates whom he trusts with
his life, and the operatives/assets/informants that they run in Gaza. When someone dumps files on the internet
about their operatives (in Wiki-leaks style), everyone must rush to first, save
the lives of the operatives who have now been exposed, and second, search out
the mole who has been leaking their top-secret information to the
internet. Add to this lots of illegal
shenanigans, lots of sexual tension, and complications that keep leaving the
viewer wanting more. Needless to say, everyone has secrets to hide, and you
cannot keep up with the array of suspects!
The main
storyline centers around Shuruk, the daughter of a Hamas Sheikh in Gaza, who is
a Shin Ben operative. We recognize here that this is based on a true story from
the 1990s -- the son of a founder of Hamas, Moab Hassan Yousef, became a spy
for the Shin Bet in a high profile story. Another part of the story that is
based on real life -- the Head of the Shin Bet is having his reputation and
career questioned by the Prime Minister. We are all mindful that there has been
a current controversy between the Head of the Shin Bet and the Prime Minister
of Israel, which makes this series highly relevant.
I loved this
series, but there is a major element which I found troublesome. The series was produced before October 7th, but it is all about information gathering in the Gaza Strip. If the drones,
cameras, and cyber specialists at the Shin Bet, as portrayed in this dramatic series,
provide Israel with so much knowledge of what is going on in Gaza on a regular
basis, then how did the October 7th disaster occur without serious
intelligence warnings?
Nevertheless,
Trust No One is a great series, a thriller with lots of twists
and turns. So well-made and highly recommended!
Trust
No One (TV
series, 9 episodes, 2025) is currently streaming on Keshet or on Netflix.
No comments:
Post a Comment