US viewers will get a rare look into Israeli domestic affairs when Fauda Season 4 drops this weekend on Netflix.
Israeli media say Fauda Season 4 captures the Israeli Zeitgeist with a more probable and believable plot that takes place far from The Promised Land.
“In its fourth season, the hit Israeli show has become one of the most important channels to understand the Israeli occupation.”
Fauda Season 4 drops on Netflix this weekend.
Fauda Season 4 adjusts to a new Israeli-Palestinian norm
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be traced back to the fall of the Ottoman Empire (or earlier, pick a catalyst). In the years following the First World War, the Zionist movement gained significant momentum, and by the closing hours of World War II, the wheels began to turn in favor of a Jewish state. In 1948, the State of Israel was declared.
Since the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel has found itself in countless scuffles with its neighbors. From the beginning of the First Intifada to the Oslo Accords, for example, around 150 Israelis were killed (1987 – 1993). However, the number of fatalities from the First Intifada pales in comparison to its successor. Britannica says, “the second intifada was much more violent […] more than 4,300 fatalities were registered, and again the ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths was slightly more than 3 to 1.”
US viewers tend to see themselves informed; however, most aren’t aware that Hamas is still in control of Palestine after ousting the secular Fatah, something many Israelis viewed as essentially an occupation and gasoline to Israeli-Palestinian relations.
Still, despite what appears to be a never-ending feud, perceptions and opinions have begun to change among Israeli and Palestinian citizens. A new poll by the Washington Institute recently reported 48 percent of Palestinian residents would choose Israeli citizenship if permitted, up from 20 percent just three years ago.
According to the report, “the current more conciliatory mood probably reflects their recent experience of access to Israeli health care, social welfare benefits, ability to travel both inside and outside Israel, and jobs during the past two years of Coronavirus issues.”
Palestinian participants were asked what the most important issues were, and 62 percent said, “jobs, health care, education, and everyday stability, not big political plans or resistance options.”
This softer stance from both Israelis and Palestinians is what Haaretz suggests has pushed Fauda Season 4 away from Jenin (and the Middle East in general) and into places like Brussels where terrorism is still “sexy.”
The fact that Fauda Season 4 is being praised in Israel is a leap in itself. As recently as season 2, many were still calling for the popular action-thriller to be boycotted.
Palestinian author Yasmeen Serhan, a former staff writer for the Atlantic, said of the second season:
“Viewers who are hungry for a Palestinian perspective on the conflict would do well to urge Netflix to commission a Palestinian-created series, because Fauda will probably prove a disappointment. Although it does better than most shows and movies at depicting certain facets of the conflict, like most shows it can’t accurately represent every perspective—a limitation that even its creators concede—and for that reason it sometimes had me yelling at the screen. But that doesn’t make it any less interesting or binge-worthy TV. When the third season drops on Netflix next year, I’ll be watching.”
Streaming This Weekend gave Fauda Season 4 a projected audience score of 77. Seasons 1 – 3 of Fauda have also scored well with critics.
Don’t miss your opportunity to watch the show that Israeli media say, “capture the Israeli Zeitgeist,” streaming this weekend on Netflix.
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