| Summary: | Fauda is the first Israeli TV series about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Available via streaming in 180 countries (season 1 in 2015 and season 2 in 2017), it has become a major hit on Netflix. This paper proposes an analysis of Fauda and its attempt to portray current clashes between Palestinian activists and a military unit of Israeli infiltrators in the West Bank. The series’ authors offer a comparative approach of the two camps that highlight individuals in their own right who, often convinced of what they believe to be their missions and their ideals, manage to lose sight of the ultimate reasons for their actions, and are driven by irrational fears, extreme fanaticism, or by the despair of the dogs of war. In fact, Fauda, while not explicitly addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, illustrates its deep impact on the everyday life of people on both sides.The series provokes a deep sense of anguish in that it makes the viewer feel the absence, if not the fading possibility of, a resolution to a conflict that has lasted for more than fifty years. A majority of Israelis seem to have resigned themselves to this reality of a never-ending conflict. This paper will analyze the reasons for the show’s popularity in Israel and what that may mean regarding the Israeli public opinion and their understanding of the situation created by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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