'Fauda' producers rejected "unbelievable" Hamas attack storyline

The creators of the hit Israeli TV series Fauda reportedly turned down a proposed storyline involving a Hamas cross-border attack, deeming it too unrealistic for the show's narrative.

Avi Issacharoff, the show's creator, revealed in an interview Jewish News in the United Kingdom that the writers suggested a plot where Hamas terrorists breach the Gaza border and take control of an Israeli kibbutz. However, producers raised concerns about the believability of such a scenario.

“I remember saying ‘Guys, what are the chances that dozens of terrorists would get to the border and the IDF wouldn’t have any indication of it? That they wouldn’t be shot down?” Issacharoff recalled. The creators found the premise improbable, considering the tight security measures along the border.

Issacharoff explained that recent events, especially since the October 7 Hamas attack, rendered their initial plans obsolete. "What we had written became totally irrelevant,” he said. 

“So, we are reinventing the show just as, in some ways, Israel will need to be reinvented; we need a new IDF, a new government, a new prime minister because Israel is going to need to be rebuilt.”

Reflecting on the post-traumatic impact of the October 7 attack, Issacharoff stated, “I don’t think there is anybody in Israel today who doesn’t know someone either killed or kidnapped on or since October 7.” 

The personal toll also touched the Fauda crew, with the loss of crew member Matan Meir and the injury of actor Idan Amedi while fighting in Gaza.

Issacharof also criticized those who attempted to contextualize the violence.

"Now we realize that no matter what happens, even if Hamas slaughters thousands of Israelis, these people, these ‘good’ people, don’t care. At the end of the day, you can’t see it as anything more than antisemitism. It is pure antisemitism. So, excuse my French, but f*ck them."