Espionage, Collaborators, and Terrorism

If you are a fan of the thriller, then the Israeli TV series, Fauda, directed by Assaf Bernstein, is for you!  According to the producers of the series, it is based on real-life episodes from their army service as members of an elite unit doing undercover work in the West Bank.  The title of the series means “chaos” and refers to what fighters of the Israeli Secret Service (shin bet) shout into their cellphones when they get into a difficult situation and need back-up.

 

The narrative is about a unit of shin bet counter-terrorism soldiers, hunting down a Palestinian terrorist who is running from one hideout to another, in an attempt to save his own skin and to mastermind another large-scale terrorist attack.  We get to know the fighters on both sides, both Palestinians and Israelis, and their families, their vulnerabilities, and their heroics.  On the Palestinian side, we realize that there are different factions within the terrorist network.  And on the Israeli side, we learn about the tremendous bravery which becomes an obsession as the shin bet undercover agents spend their lives passing as Arabs and penetrating into Palestinian society.

Fauda is a thriller, gritty, hard-hitting, and extremely well-made with complex characters and an authentic script.  I just finished bingeing on the first season – and I was happy to hear that a second season is in the works! You can catch the first season of Fauda on Netflix!

If you like action films, you might want to see Bethlehem by Yuval Adler, previously reviewed on this blog.