Israeli ‘Fauda’ Star Lior Raz Returns to Active Duty Following Hamas Attacks: ‘No Fear’

Samantha Bergeson
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The cast and filmmakers behind Netflix’s Israeli series “Fauda” are speaking out and taking action amid the Hamas attacks in Israel.

Actor Lior Raz, who also produces the series, is a former Israeli special forces unit soldier. Following this past weekend’s attacks on Israeli by the Iran-backed terrorist group, Raz traveled with “Fauda” co-creator Avi Issacharov and Israeli Democracy Institute head Yohanan Plesner, to join the fight against Hamas with his fellow members of the group Brothers in Arms, who had previously protested against efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to overhaul the country’s judiciary.

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He later posted a video, writing, “I headed down south to join hundreds of brave ‘Brothers in Arms’ volunteers who worked tirelessly to assist the population in the south of Israel. We were sent to the bombarded town of Sderot to extract two families. No fear!” Sderot is just a few miles from the Gaza Strip and suffered many casualties.

Fellow “Fauda” stars Tomer Capone, Yaakov Zada Daniel, Tzachi Halevi, and Idan Amedi have also returned to duty, per THR.

Hamas attacks have recently killed more than 1,200 Israelis, with Israel’s response attacks killing more than 1,400 Palestinians, with soldiers situated on the border of the Gaza Strip. Hamas-led air strikes have continued on Israel since Saturday, with Israel retaliating in Gaza. Electricity and water have been cut off in Gaza amid the attacks as Israel demands Hamas’ release of Israeli hostages.

“Fauda” actor Guy Shalom told The Hollywood Reporter Roma that the period piece Netflix series, set in the 1970s during the Yom Kippur War, is now mirroring the reality of present-day Israel. “Fauda,” which launched in 2015, follows an undercover anti-terrorist unit in the West Bank. A fifth season was announced in September 2023.

“I played a soldier guarding an Israeli outpost who suffers a surprise Egyptian attack during the Yom Kippur War. Who would have thought that 50 years later, Guy, the civilian, would feel just like my character, Yaron, the soldier?” Shalom said. “On Saturday morning I was awakened by sirens, and along with the sound came Hamas fighters.”

Shalom continued, “I have cried and I will surely cry for a long time. However, our spirit will not break, I am moved by the unity of Israelis who help each other in any way they can, by donating blood, money and supplies.”

Across Israel, all film and TV productions have been halted by the Israel Defense Forces. Theaters have also been subsequently shut down.

“The whole industry is shut down,” Israeli director Adar Shafran, who serves as president of the Israeli Television and Film Producers Association (IPAC), told THR. “We are still in shock. After this war nothing will be the same as before, for now we must just focus on survival.”

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