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‘Fauda’ Returns: Showrunner Lior Raz on the ‘Most Emotional’ Season Yet

The showrunner of the award-winning Israeli series spills on the new season in this exclusive interview.
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April 14, 2020
The cast of “Fauda” Photo courtesy Netflix

In its first two seasons, the award-winning Israeli drama series “Fauda” earned praise for its raw, unflinching representation of both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Centering on a counterterrorism commando unit of the Israel Defense Forces, whose members operate undercover in Palestinian territory, the show has amassed 13 prestigious Ophir Awards (Israel’s Emmy) and a worldwide audience on Netflix.

Lior Raz, who co-created the series with Avi Issacharoff and stars in it as undercover counter-terrorism operative Doron Kavillio, begins the third season posing as a boxing coach to a promising young fighter, to obtain intelligence on Hamas activities. It’s a high-tension, shocking ride that raises the stakes with a plot involving hostages and deadly mistakes with tragic consequences.

“We wanted to continue the journey of the characters that we started in the first and second season, to see where they can go emotionally and action-wise and with the relationships between them and with the people surrounding them,” Raz told the Journal. “It’s the most emotional season — more than the first and second. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s an emotional journey for sure because Doron is losing everything. Even though he’s a hero, he’s losing all the time.”

Doron Ben-David (left) and Lior Raz in “Fauda.” Photos courtesy of Netflix.

Doron’s unit operates in the West Bank and Gaza this time, and the show depicts the “differences between them,” Raz said. “Gaza is a dark, black hole. It’s very hard to go undercover there. It’s hard to get in, but it’s harder to get out. When you’re operating in the West Bank, Jerusalem is 10 minutes away. People can come rescue you much more easily than when you’re in Gaza.”

The latter’s crowded streets were recreated in Israel on an army base, where IDF soldiers train in mock-Palestinian neighborhoods. “We had to make it alive, not just a place that you train,” Raz said. “We brought in hundreds of extras and painted art on the walls.”

Raz decided to make a hostage situation part of the story “because it’s one of the most serious things for Israelis,” he said, citing the 2006 kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, released five years later in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. “The whole country went crazy, with demonstrations. It’s a big wound for the country and a very hard thing for Israelis to see, but we wanted to show what goes on there; what happens to the hostages and what Israel would do to release them.”

In Raz’s view, “Fauda” has made an impact on both Israeli and Palestinian viewers. “It’s a TV show. It’s meant to entertain. But I can tell you that when I talk with Israeli right-wingers, a lot of them tell me that this is the first time they feel empathy for the other side. And it’s not just Israelis,” he said. “I was shooting ‘Six Underground’ in Abu Dhabi for a month or two. I met a lot of people from Arab countries, like Yemen and Syria, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, who watch the show and tell me it’s the first time they have compassion for Israelis as well. In that way, I think we’re a good messenger.”

“It’s a TV show. It’s meant to entertain. But I can tell you that when I talk with Israeli right-wingers, a lot of them tell me that this is the first time they feel empathy for the other side … [I’ve] met a lot of people from Arab countries who tell me it’s the first time they have compassion for Israelis as well. In that way, I think we’re a good messenger.” — Lior Raz

Raz also attributes more Israelis learning Arabic these days to “Fauda,” especially Israelis “who have roots in Arab countries like me. My father is from Iraq and my mother is from Algeria. They get connected to their roots.”

Nevertheless, he’s not optimistic about the future unless policies change. “The problem is not the people. The problem is the leaders that we have,” he said. “After World War II, Israel could not think about Germany as an ally. Now, we’re best friends. If we could have peace with the Germans after the Holocaust, we could have peace with the Palestinians. The decision-makers need to be more open-minded.”

Currently writing and planning the fourth season of “Fauda” via Zoom meetings, Raz has found a silver lining in the coronavirus isolation. “At last, I have time to be with my family, all day, every day − something that I didn’t have for the last three years while traveling all over the world,” he said. “We’re staying at home and trying to be safe.”

The COVID-19 crisis also halted production on his Netflix film “Hit and Run,” about an Israeli tour guide who tries to find the driver at fault in an accident that killed his wife. There are other Netflix projects lined up as well, all big dramas and action thrillers. “My dream is to one day write a small show about relationships — not a big one, not an action one — about love, fear and emotions,” Raz said.

There’s significance in the timing of “Fauda’s” premiere during a worldwide crisis, he noted. “This pandemic gives all of us a new perspective on life and what is important. We’re all the same. It doesn’t matter who you are, how rich you are, how poor you are, where you’re from, if you’re black or white. We just need to spread some love. That’s something we can learn from this crazy time we’re living in now.”

Raz suggests that those who tune in “should be prepared to be surprised. This season is much darker than the others. Emotionally, it’s a hard journey for the viewers as well,” he said. “So just sit tight and be with someone next to you holding your hand when you watch it.”

“Fauda” premieres April 16 on Netflix.

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