The Israel you won’t see on the news

News reports can tell us what is happening in Israel. Drama, comedy and documentary explain who Israelis actually are. At a time when so much of Israel is reduced to slogans and social media posts, that may be more important than ever. As anyone who tries will tell you there has never been a harder time to find Israeli television and film. While streamers and broadcasters back away, the country continues to produce daring, funny, emotional, watchable drama. Which is precisely why IZZY matters as a cultural lifeline and the home of Israeli content that viewers can’t find elsewhere.

Viewers looking for romance should start with Save the Date, a witty and heartfelt comedy starring Adi Havshush as Dassy Toledano, a successful wedding planner whose carefully organised life unravels overnight. When her boyfriend publicly announces that he does not want children, Dassy walks away from the future she thought she was building, only to find herself organising the wedding of her old high school rival. Matters become even more complicated when she discovers that the groom is her once nerdy best friend, now transformed into a successful and striking entrepreneur. The biggest clue to just how good the series is comes from Hollywood. Sony is developing an American remake, proof that Israeli television is still producing stories with international appeal when it gets the chance to flex its talent.

There are thrillers, documentaries, family dramas and comedies, but what makes the platform clever is its understanding that Israel’s story is not one story. It is young, old, religious, secular and political all at once.

For families trying to keep teenagers connected to Israel beyond headlines and social media, IZZY is particularly valuable. They can watch                 The Greenhouse, a hugely successful teen drama adapted internationally by Netflix that is set in an elite boarding school for future leaders. A year after losing their mother in a spaceship disaster, a brother and sister arrive at the mysterious Greenhouse academy only to discover the idyllic campus holds a dangerous secret threatening the country itself.

For adult viewers, Commandments, starring Roy Nik (Kugel), offers a side of Israeli life rarely explored outside the country since it is inspired by true stories of young Orthodox Jews who join the army despite being exempt from service. Torn between faith, family, friendship and the temptations of secular life, it is less a military drama and more a powerful exploration of identity in modern Israel.

And there is Madrasa, Sayed Kashua and Guri Alfi’s comedy-drama, which is exactly the kind of sharp, layered storytelling Israeli television does so well.

Fancy  something darker and more thought-provoking? Then watch   Autonomies. Created and written by Yehonatan Indursky and Ori Elon, the same writing team behind Shtisel, this is lone of the most ambitious dramas Israeli television has produced. Set in an ‘alternative’ reality where Israel has split into two separate states – a secular democracy and an ultra-Orthodox autonomous territory – it follows a black-market smuggler (Assi Cohen)caught between the two worlds when he is asked to return a child to her biological mother. Questions about religion, identity, democracy, personal freedom and the future direction of Israeli society sit at the heart of the drama. At a time when divisions between secular and religious Israelis remain among the country’s most fiercely debated issues, Autonomies feels less like science fiction and more like a warning about where tensions could lead.

Seriously consider subscribing to IZZY  as it is not just another streaming platform. It’s about access to the smartest television being made anywhere, that you don’t want to miss.

https://izzy.streamisrael.tv