closeicon
News

Ten Israeli-influenced TV gems you cannot miss on streaming services this year

A wide range of Jewish classics to get your teeth into

articlemain

From heart-pounding thrillers such as Fauda to the touching-yet-funny Jewish Matchmaking, Israel is a proven TV-series hit factory.

But if you’re wondering if the Jewish world has much left in its creative tank, fear not: there’s plenty more where that came from.

We’ve tracked down ten Israeli-influenced gems coming up on streaming services this year. Happy bingeing!

The Lesson:

Crowned best drama series at this year’s Israeli TV Academy Awards and handed awards at Cannes and Berlin, The Lesson stars Fauda’s Doron Ben-David, and Maya Landsmann of 2021 comedy-drama series Dismissed.

Inspired by a true story, The Lesson follows a classroom debate between a teacher and his 17-year-old pupil as it spirals out of control into a conflict involving the school, community and eventually the whole country.

Released 21 June on Chaiflicks

Heart of Stone:

Intended as a Mission Impossible-style franchise, the US espionage thriller of the summer stars Gal Gadot as secret agent Rachel Stone (the show’s “heart of stone”), alongside Jamie Dornan, Sophie Okonedo and Paul Ready.

Directed by Tom Harper (Peaky Blinders) and written by Greg Rucka and Allison Schroeder.

Released 11 August on Netflix

The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem:

Fans of the Israeli historical melodrama about a Sephardi Jewish family in early 1900s Jerusalem will delight at the news that season 2 (or part 3 as Netflix calls it) has been confirmed to run in the UK this year.

Yes Studios’ lavish series reached the Netflix Top 10 TV in 11 countries when its first season aired, and in 2021 it won four awards including “Best Drama” at the Israeli Television Academy Awards.

Release date TBC on Netflix

Bodies:

Starring Shira Haas of Unorthodox and Shtisel, the eight-episode Bodies is billed as a crime procedural with a twist. Based on the graphic novel by the late Si Spencer, it follows four detectives — in four different time periods spanning 150 years — who are investigating the murder of the same unidentified victim in Whitechapel.

Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (The Queen’s Gambit) and Bafta-nominated Stephen Graham (This Is England) also star in this series directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner.

Release date TBC on Netflix

Borders:

A series that examines the thin lines between legality and criminality, sanity and madness, Borders follows Avi, a young man from crime-ridden Bat Yam who signs up to the Border Police as a way of seeking revenge on a rival gang from Jaffa.

Released this autumn on Netflix

You’ll Never Walk Alone

An eight-episode comedy about friendship, love and football, You’ll Never Walk Alone is Israeli actor-writer duo Guy Amir and Hanan Savyonstar’s first series for Netflix.

Filmed in Israel, Poland, Ukraine and Georgia, the show was produced by Fauda’s Danna Stern.

Released in October on Netflix

Wartime Girls

One of Poland’s most popular series of recent years, Wartime Girls is already onto its fifth season in its native country.

Gripping yet humorous, the original series from Poland’s national broadcaster follows three Polish women who stand up to fight the Nazi occupation of their country during the Second World War.

As the war intensifies, the resistance operations become more dangerous.

Seasons 1-3 out now; season 4 out in the autumn on ChaiFlicks

The New Black

From the producers of groundbreaking Israeli series Be’ Tipul and Losing Alice, The New Black follows four rebellious students at a prestigious Orthodox Yeshiva in Jerusalem as they try to reconcile their wish for modern life with their religious upbringings.

Known as Shababnikim in Hebrew, the original comedy became one of the most successful series on Israeli television and picked up four Israeli Television Awards.

Seasons 1-2 out now, season 3 out later this year on ChaiFlicks

A Small Light

This new eight-episode series focuses on the story of the brave couple who concealed Anne Frank and her family in Amsterdam, shown from the perspective of Otto Frank’s non-Jewish secretary Miep Gies.

Created by Grey’s Anatomy writers Tony Phelan and Joan Rater, the series stars Bel Powey, Liev Shreiber and Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson.

Out now on DisneyPlus

Less Than Kosher

Billed as Shiva Baby meets A Star is Born, this new musical comedy series follows the rollercoaster singing career of Viv in Toronto.

Once a hotly tipped young performer, Viv is now 30 and living in her mother’s basement, rent-free, on the condition that she attends synagogue. Expect plenty of Hebrew-flavoured electro-pop.

Released 12 June on ChaiFlicks

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive