Fauda writer Avi Issacharoff reveals little-known secret about what’s coming next

Fauda is heading to the big screen, co-creator Avi Issacharoff revealed to a packed audience at St John’s Wood Synagogue last night.

More than 300 fans had gathered to hear Issacharoff discuss the eagerly awaited fifth season of the global Israeli hit when he dropped the unexpected news that a Fauda movie is in the works.

Asked by Life magazine editor Brigit Grant whether there would be a sixth season, Issacharoff remained tight-lipped — but revealed instead that Doron and the Fauda team are destined for cinema.

Issacharoff was in conversation with Grant at a special event for the Tel Aviv University Trust, in collaboration with Jewish News and Immanuel College, ahead of the new season’s international launch.

There were no spoilers — despite some determined questioning — but Issacharoff offered a glimpse behind the scenes of the series he created with Lior Raz and the extraordinary partnership that has sustained it.

After 16 years of working together, he described Raz, Fauda‘s co-writer and leading man, as being like a brother — before laughing and amending that to “a married couple”.

The pair have known each other since their younger days in Jerusalem, and their shared experiences and personal histories have repeatedly found their way into the drama. Issacharoff revealed that even the name of a terrorist in the first season was borrowed from the man who shot him during his military service in 1994.

He also brought some much-needed humour to an evening inevitably touched by the events of October 7.

Issacharoff recalled travelling south with Raz shortly after the attacks to help evacuate people from communities around Gaza. During one mission, amid darkness, sirens and fears that terrorists might still be in the area, a woman emerged from her home with her daughter.

She looked at Issacharoff, then spotted Raz.

“Oh my God! It’s the one from Fauda,” she exclaimed — before asking him for a selfie.

Issacharoff said that despite Fauda‘s international success, he and Raz will only continue telling its story when they believe they have something worth saying.

“The secret of season five is that it really came from our hearts,” he told the audience. “From our bleeding hearts.”

Cara Case, CEO of Tel Aviv University Trust, said: “Avi is a remarkable storyteller, and his deep knowledge of the region and journalistic experience combine to make Fauda so powerful and compelling.

“Last night, he gave us a fascinating insight into the challenges of telling the harrowing story of October 7, and the role the new series plays in conveying this shocking reality to audiences around the world.

“We were delighted by the success of the evening and by the opportunity to bring some 300 people together for such a timely and thought-provoking conversation.”

Season five of Fauda launches internationally on Netflix next week. And after that, for the first time, Fauda is heading for the cinema.