Discover the best of Israeli cinema, film, and television
Discover the definitive list of popular and critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows from Israel. Find your next binge-watch, streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
The cinema of Israel
Israeli screen culture has become a global powerhouse, celebrated for its smart, gripping stories that are as intelligent as they are intense. Its cinema first gained major international acclaim in the 2000s, with a new generation of filmmakers earning Oscar nominations and top festival prizes. The world truly took notice with Ari Folman’s animated masterpiece Waltz with Bashir, a stunning documentary that reinvented what film could do, and Samuel Maoz's Lebanon, which won the Golden Lion at Venice. These films established a reputation for brave, personal filmmaking that grappled with the country’s complex reality. But its biggest global impact might be on television, where it has become a true format superpower. The smash-hit series Homeland was, in fact, an adaptation of the brilliant Israeli drama Hatufim (Prisoners of War). This kicked off a golden age of television exports. The nail-biting thriller Fauda became an international sensation, while the gentle, profoundly human drama Shtisel, set in the ultra-Orthodox community, quietly conquered the world with its heart. What makes Israeli storytelling so compelling is its unflinching honesty. It’s a cinema that explores the psychological pressures of conflict, family, and faith with incredible depth. It's a place where high-octane action and quiet human drama thrive side-by-side, always with a sharp, intelligent edge.
Best Israeli series
Fauda 2015
A top Israeli agent comes out of retirement to hunt for a Palestinian militant he thought he'd killed, setting a chaotic chain of events into motion.
80
Tehran 2020
Tamar is a Mossad hacker-agent who infiltrates Tehran under a false identity to help destroy Iran's nuclear reactor. But when her mission fails, Tamar must plan an operation that will place everyone dear to her in jeopardy.
75
Hit & Run 2021
A happily married man's life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a mysterious hit-and-run accident in Tel Aviv. Grief-stricken and confused, he searches for his wife's killers, who have fled to the U.S. With the help of an ex-lover, he uncovers disturbing truths about his beloved wife and the secrets she kept from him.
71
Shtisel 2013
Akiva and Shulem Shtisel, father and son, sit on a little balcony overlooking streets of the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem. A year has passed since the mother died. All the other children have left the nest, and only Shulam and Akiva remain - quarreling, making up, and laughing about themselves and the rest of the world. All will change when Akiva meets Elisheva.
79
Valley of Tears 2020
On October 6th 1973, the Middle East was shaken by the biggest war it had ever seen. A war that should have been the last one, and that forever changed the region.
74
Losing Alice 2020
The story of Alice, an ambitious 47 year old female film director who becomes obsessed with 24 year old femme-fatale Sophie and eventually surrenders all moral integrity in order to achieve power, success and unlimited relevance.
66
Best Israeli movies
Waltz with Bashir 2008
An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
77
Jeruzalem 2016
When a couple of American young adults fly to Israel to visit the city of Jerusalem, a biblical nightmare falls upon the city.
53
Big Bad Wolves 2013
Tel Aviv, Israel. The twisted paths of three very different men brutally collide due to a chain of unspeakable murders: a grieving father who has been doomed to seek vengeance and a police detective who boldly crosses the narrow boundary between law and crime meet a religion teacher suspected of being the murderer.
68
Out in the Dark 2012
Two young men — a Palestinian grad student and an Israeli lawyer — meet and fall in love amidst personal and political intrigue.
76
The Gatekeepers 2012
In an unprecedented and candid series of interviews, six former heads of the Shin Bet — Israel's intelligence and security agency — speak about their role in Israel's decades-long counterterrorism campaign, discussing their controversial methods and whether the ends ultimately justify the means.
75
Lebanon 2009
During the First Lebanon War in 1982, a lone tank and a paratroopers platoon are dispatched to search a hostile town.
68