In case you missed it, the fifth season of Israeli television series Fauda recently dropped on Netflix.
On a personal level, I am a huge fan of the show, but it took me years before I could bring myself to watch it. I use television as a form of escapism, so the idea of watching something so realistic and gritty (and thus potentially upsetting) proved too much for me. That is, until many years after it first aired, I decided to bite the bullet (so to speak). Binge watching ensued, and I eagerly awaited the fifth season.
But something happened since season 4 to curb my enthusiasm.
October 7.
The main plot of this season involves revenge against Hamas terrorists connected to October 7 and an attempt to prevent another major attack on Israel. Episodes 7 and 8 focus specifically on the atrocity. This might be a bridge too far for me – at least for the time being.
Thankfully, it is not a bridge too far for many people around the world. I say “thankfully”, because it seems to be serving to educate those who might need the education:
Israeli social media influencer Lee Malach wrote: “My entire feed is filled with tweets from Dutch and German people; I have no idea why, about the October 7 episodes of ‘Fauda.’ They are in total shock over what happened here, and the posts are difficult to read and very supportive of Israel. It is crazy to me how little these people know about what happened here and how much they talk about the subject.”
Brazilian cartoonist Luciano Pires wrote: “I watched the fifth season of ‘Fauda.’ It has always been an unsettling series. But the fifth season is particularly shocking and painful. Episodes 7 and 8 recreate the October 7 massacre, making them far more difficult to watch than a fictional drama. After all, we have all seen dozens of real videos from the attack, many of them filmed by the terrorists themselves, and they were horrifying enough. But this time, the fictional work takes us directly into the horror.”
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He continued: “I was genuinely horrified, not only by watching the massacre through the eyes of the victims, but also by thinking about the Israeli actors, many of whom are Jewish. The image accompanying this post shows actor Yaakov Zada Daniel, who plays the operative Eli, as he enters his home in a kibbutz attacked by Hamas terrorists. It is a breathtaking moment. He was not acting out a scene about a distant tragedy; he was recreating on camera an event that struck his country, his family, his friends, and the series’ own production team. Idan Amedi, an actor in the series, was seriously wounded during the fighting in Gaza. Matan Meir, a member of the production team, was killed in the war.”
Pires concluded: “Perhaps that is why these episodes have a different quality. They do not feel like an attempt to imagine the horror. They take us directly into it.”
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The episodes also prompted strong reactions from viewers in Italy. One man wrote: “I could barely keep my eyes open.” Another woman wrote: “Yesterday, a friend called me and told me the same thing. She added, ‘Who knows, perhaps this series will help people understand the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7.’ And I replied, ‘I’m afraid it won’t.’ P.S. My friend is neither Jewish nor Israeli, but she is free and knows how to use her own mind.” Some users also shared real footage of the massacre in southern Israel in their replies.
An influencer from India wrote: “Sleepless nights. Can someone please erase my memory of this episode?? I can’t stop thinking and worrying. Episode eight of ‘Fauda’ really disturbed me. I don’t understand how there are still Hamas supporters among us. God, please help me get over this series.” Another user responded: “I am a huge fan of ‘Fauda’ and of Israel, but I don’t have the courage to watch the fifth season.”
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A woman from the UK responded: “I just finished watching episodes 7 and 8. This will stay with me forever. What Israelis went through… and the world simply does not care.”
A social media user from Texas asked his followers whether they had watched the season and what they thought of it. Responses included: “Well made, but heartbreaking. Not for the faint of heart,” and “Episodes 7 and 8 are simply unforgettable.”
He concluded: “It seems that episodes 7 and 8 of ‘Fauda’ moved everyone; it looks like a phenomenal season, as usual.”
On IMDb, season 5 is ranking well with 8.2, but episodes 7 and 8 are 9.4 and 9.5 respectively. That is telling.
Meanwhile, it was reportedly Netflix’s number one show at the weekend in Lebanon, doing well also in other Middle Eastern countries like Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia. And within a day of its release on Netflix, the series had already ranked seventh among the platform’s 10 most watched shows in 43 countries.
Fauda might just be proving more effective at educating the world about what Israel is dealing with than the Israeli government and most pro-Israel organizations.
Perhaps there is a lesson in that, too.
Sometimes the most powerful way to make people understand the truth isn’t to tell them what happened.
It’s to make them feel it.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
