‘Fauda’ Co-Creator Talks About Showtime’s ‘Ghosts of Beirut’

Imad Mughniyeh is believed to have killed more Americans that any terrorist before Osama Bin Laden. Called “Radwan” or “The Ghost,” intelligence agencies reported that he was the mastermind of numerous attacks, including the bombing of the U.S. embassy barracks in Beirut on October 23, 1983, the embassy bombing, bombings of Israeli headquarters in Tyre, Lebanon, the kidnapping, torture and murder of CIA Beirut Chief William Buckley, the hijacking of TWA  Flight 847, the murder of Malcolm Kerr, who was the president of the American University of Beirut and the father of NBA star and coach Steve Kerr.  Mughniyeh was indicted in abstentia for the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, and he has killed several hundred Americans, numerous Israelis, and scores of others in different attacks. A founder of Lebanon’s Islamic Jihad and then a top man as part of Hezbollah, he would do what Iran wanted to harm America, Israel, Jews and others. His tactic of having suicide bombers in vehicles drive into facilities was a new phenomenon.

Though neither the CIA or Mossad has given an official statement, numerous new outlets reported that after decades of terror and escaping and punishment for his crimes, both agencies worked together for what is believed to be their only joint assassination by placing a bomb in an automobile that detonated and killed Mughniyeh on February 12, 2007, in Damascus.

“Fauda” co-creators Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz created Showtime’s new series “Ghosts of Beirut” with director Greg Barker. The four-part series that is billed as fictional but based on deeply researched information, shows how Mughniyeh was so slick, security officials for a time didn’t even know what he looked like. “He was sophisticated, dangerous, smart and he was a pioneer,” Issacharoff told the Journal. “He was an immediate threat. We’re talking about someone who invented terrorism as we know it today.”

In the series, Mughniyeh is played by Hisham Suliman (who also starred as The Panther in the first season of “Fauda”)  and Amir Khoury, who plays the younger, 20something Suliman. Lena Asaryan is the point person on the American side, working with a Mossad man Teddy, played by Iddo Goldberg. Fans of “Srugim” will notice Yuval Scarf, who has a small role as Sarah, who works for Mossad. Tzahi Grad is impressive in a small role as Mossad director Meir Dagan.

Issacharoff, who is one of Israel’s leading journalists and the co-author of “34 Days: Israel, Hezbollah And The War In Lebanon” a gripping account of the war that began in 2006, said in making the show, the main challenge was trying to ascertain what actually took place, as Hezbollah was not about to tell the whole story and the CIA and Mossad would be tight-lipped.

“In our research, we did try to get to the bottom of the real story,” he said. “Most people involved are dead or not willing to talk. It was kind of like hitting a rock and expecting water to come out of it. Sometimes people are misleading you.” American, Israeli and Lebanese writers, collaborated on the show, he said.

So what did Mughniyeh do that finally put him in a situation where he could no longer escape? “It was technological breakthroughs by Israeli intelligence and mistakes of  Mughniyeh’s personal life between his wife and his new woman,” Issacharoff said.

The show is powerful and a chilling reminder of the deadly damage that one man can do and what happens when one underestimates an enemy. It is scary to think there are people plotting attacks, but it’s a fact of life. Part of the danger of spy craft is not knowing people’s intentions and if one misinterprets a threat level there can be disastrous results.

Filmed in Morocco, “Ghosts of Beirut” is a show that may help you sleep well at night knowing this murderer was killed or might keep you up at night knowing there could be people like him trying to follow in his footsteps. It is a gripping cautionary tale and a reminder that we sometimes take for granted the safety provided by hard working intelligence officers. It is also easy to play Monday-morning quarterback decades later, but much harder to respond in real time when there are many things that are unknown.

As for “Fauda, after four seasons do Issacharoff and Raz have any set idea of how many more seasons they want to do? “We don’t know yet,” Issacharoff said. “We still have negotiations.”