Best Israeli documentary movies
Get ready to binge. We've found a collection of must-watch documentary films from Israel, now streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
The Gatekeepers (2012)
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.
Tantura (2022)
Tantura (2022)
When, in the late 1990s, Israeli student Teddy Katz exposed the massacre of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the village of Tantura, in May 1948, during the first Arab-Israeli war, he was initially praised for his pioneering work; but he was soon infamous and branded a traitor. Decades later, incendiary new evidence emerges that corroborates Teddy's findings.
A Film Unfinished (2010)
A Film Unfinished (2010)
Yael Hersonski's powerful documentary achieves a remarkable feat through its penetrating look at another film-the now-infamous Nazi-produced film about the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered after the war, the unfinished work, with no soundtrack, quickly became a resource for historians seeking an authentic record, despite its elaborate propagandistic construction. The later discovery of a long-missing reel complicated earlier readings, showing the manipulations of camera crews in these "everyday" scenes. Well-heeled Jews attending elegant dinners and theatricals (while callously stepping over the dead bodies of compatriots) now appeared as unwilling, but complicit, actors, alternately fearful and in denial of their looming fate.
The Real Fauda (2018)
The Real Fauda (2018)
Set in the cloak-and-dagger world of the IDF’s undercover special forces - the Mista'arvim - Fauda is an Israeli-produced TV drama which has garnered praise for its realistic depiction of military tactics alongside its empathetic portrayal of Palestinians, militant or otherwise. BBC Arabic joins the production of the hotly anticipated second season, and tries to understand how it might one day pave the way for a dialogue between the two sides built on mutual understanding and compassion.
The Human Factor (2021)
The Human Factor (2021)
How US politicians and diplomats, over the past 25 years, have come close to achieving something almost impossible: securing peace between the State of Israel and its Arab and like-minded neighbors, mired in a struggle both dialectical and violent since the early 20th century, due to historical and religious reasons, entrenched offenses and prejudices, and the invisible and tyrannical hand of third countries' geopolitical interests in the area.
Dirty Tricks (2021)
Dirty Tricks (2021)
At the elite level, bridge - the world's most popular card game - has become a million-dollar cut-throat business. When the best competitive player is accused of cheating, the ensuing scandal confounds experts, criminal science, celebrities and basic belief in this hilarious true-crime thriller.
Berenshtein (2021)
Berenshtein (2021)
The unbelievable story of Leonid Bernshtein, a young Jewish soldier who rose to become the leader and led the operation to destroy the secret facility of the notorious Nazi V2 ballistic missiles.
Numbered (2012)
Numbered (2012)
An estimated 400,000 people were tattooed with serial numbers at Auschwitz, of whom only a few thousand survive today. This intimate and visually rapturous documentary details the current lives of some of these survivors, their memories of the camps, and their relationships with the numbers. Numbered is an emotionally affecting portrait of memory and history, and their enduring presence in individual lives.
The Law in These Parts (2011)
The Law in These Parts (2011)
Can justice truly be served in the occupied territories given the current system of law administered by Israel for Palestinians? This documentary explores the history of Israel's military legal system in the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Macheads (2009)
Macheads (2009)
A exploration of the fanaticism that surrounds the Apple brand, featuring interviews with Mac evangelists and members of the Mac community.
Trembling Before G-d (2001)
Trembling Before G-d (2001)
A portrait of various gay Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their faith and their sexual orientation.
#NOVA (2023)
#NOVA (2023)
This documentary consists solely of footage taken by people who were at the Nova Music Festival when the massacre started on October 7th.
East Jerusalem / West Jerusalem (2014)
East Jerusalem / West Jerusalem (2014)
In Palestinian East Jerusalem, Singer-Songwriter David Broza records a new album with American, Palestinian and Israeli musicians in defiance of the Middle East's dark realities.
King Bibi (2018)
King Bibi (2018)
Twenty years before the spectacle of Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu already understood the political benefits of a toxic relationship with the media, and direct communication with the public. King Bibi explores Netanyahu's rise to power, relying solely on archival footage of his media performances over the years: from his days as a popular guest expert on American TV, through his public confession of adultery, and his mastery of the art of social media. From one studio to another, "Bibi" evolved from Israel's great political hope, to a controversial figure whom some perceive as Israel's savior, and others - as a cynical politician who will stop at nothing to retain his power.
Made in Auschwitz: The Untold Story of Block 10 (2019)
Made in Auschwitz: The Untold Story of Block 10 (2019)
Around 80 years ago, the gynecologist Carl Clauberg conducted medical experimentation on Jewish girls and women in Auschwitz. The results of those sadistic experiments were used in medicine across the globe. It is possible that German companies played a part in those experiments. Most of the survivors became infertile, and very few of them were later capable to give birth. The Untold Story of Block 10 introduces the audience to those who have survived.
Haturnir (2020)
Haturnir (2020)
"Haturnir" is a documentary film, following Liam Ronen "The CEO" - a high school student who arranged the soccer tournament that eventually succeeded in becoming an outrageous empire. The film captures the fights, conflicts, COVID-19 influences, and competitions in this event.
Comfortably Numb (1991)
Comfortably Numb (1991)
Sudent film by Folman where he documents his close friends taking cover on the verge of anxiety attacks during the first Gulf war while Iraqi missiles lands all over Tel Aviv.
Before the Revolution (2013)
Before the Revolution (2013)
A documentary thriller describing the last days of the Israeli community in Tehran, on the eve of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The director, whose family was in Tehran at the time, uses rare archive materials to illustrate how thousands of Israelis, who enjoyed unusual affinity with the Shah's regime, wake up one morning to find their paradise vanished.
Stalags (2008)
Stalags (2008)
Stalags were pocket books whose plots revealed lusty female SS officers sexually abusing camp prisoners. During the 1960s, parallel to the trial held against Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, sales of this pornographic literature broke all records in Israel and hundreds of thousands of copies were sold at kiosks. The popularity of the Stalags only declined after a much-reported trial, in which their authors were accused of distributing anti-Semitic pornography. This film examines the notorious phenomenon, exposing the creators of this genre for the first time. It posits that the combination of pornography and the Holocaust also appears in canonic Holocaust literature and continues to be a widespread part of the representation of the Holocaust in Israel today.
Murder At Cinema North (2020)
Murder At Cinema North (2020)
A young Holocaust survivor who descends into crime; an Italian-Jewish engineer who wants to see a movie; a German Christian who forgives her husband’s murderer because of her Buddhist faith; and a Jewish woman who carries on an affair with a Nazi and exposes members of the resistance so that she and her children may survive: their fates intersect when two bullets are fired into a queue of people waiting to see “A Man Escaped” at Tel Aviv’s Cinema North in 1957.
Precious Life (2011)
Precious Life (2011)
With the help of a prominent Israeli journalist, Precious Life chronicles the struggle of an Israeli pediatrician and a Palestinian mother to get treatment for her baby, who suffers from an incurable genetic disease. Each must face their most profound biases as they inch towards a possible friendship in an impossible reality.
A Friendly Man (2019)
A Friendly Man (2019)
Joza's humble appearance does not reveal his wild past. Now a tour guide in Jerusalem, he was once Israel's biggest cocaine dealer: he's been constantly reinventing himself while making all the possible mistakes along the way.
Honorable Men: The Rise and Fall of Ehud Olmert (2020)
Honorable Men: The Rise and Fall of Ehud Olmert (2020)
How former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert unexpectedly rose to power and how he dramatically fell from grace: from the most powerful position in the country to prison.
The Shoshani Riddle (2023)
The Shoshani Riddle (2023)
No one knows his real name; he is only known as Mr. Shoshani. He was an eternal nomad, a mad genius, who attracted disciples such as Nobel Prize winner Eli Weisel and renowned philosopher Emmanuel Levinas. Mr. Shoshani is one of the unsolved riddles of the 20th century, he is among the 10 most mysterious people of all time.
77:78 - על המפה (2015)
77:78 - על המפה (2015)
"On The Map" tells the story of '77 team, the one that brought the first European Cup to Israel and became "The Team of the Nation" Still demoralized after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel was hungry for a collective uplifting event. "On The Map", a fast-moving, emotional and awe-inspiring documentary, recounts the story of how one Tel Aviv team no one thought could win toppled the four-time defending European Champions and put Israel firmly on the map. Featuring interviews with the Jewish American athletes who made history, "On the Map" combines the pulsepounding action of a high-stakes game with an incendiary political situation at the height of the Cold War to deliver a film that honors Israeli heroes, mesmerizes fans of the game and captures the spirit of a nation triumphant and victorious against all odds.
Golda (2019)
Golda (2019)
Shortly before her passing, Golda Meir was interviewed for Israeli television. After shooting ended, the cameras kept rolling, recording an intimate talk with the first and only woman to ever rule Israel. As she lit one cigarette after the other, Golda spoke freely, pleading her case for her term as Prime Minister – five turbulent years that secured her place in history, albeit at a high personal cost. Based on these never-before seen materials, testimonies of supporters and opponents and rare archival footage, GOLDA tells the story of Meir’s dramatic premiership – from her surprising rise to power and iconic international stature as “queen of the Jewish people”, to her tragic and lonely demise.
Karahana (1997)
Karahana (1997)
The first documentary film ever made about psytrance. It tells the story of “Drugless Festival”, better remembered in Israel as “Huga Festival” that took place in Ganey Huga, a water park in the North of Israel, for 3 days, back in the summer of 1997.
Gay Days (2009)
Gay Days (2009)
In 1985, there were three gays who were out of the closet in Israel. By 1998, there were 3,000. In this short, intensive and dramatic period, Israel came out of the closet in one of the quickest and most colourful revolutions of the end of the 20th century.