Introduction

Number one on the New York Times’ list of “The 30 Best International TV Shows of the Decade” was the Israeli television drama Prisoners of War. Mike Hale, who published his list of selections on the New York Times on December 20, 2019, even made an exception in order to include Prisoners of War on his list, making an allowance for the 2009 Israeli show, which according to him was “just too good to leave out.” Hale’s requirements for his list of best 30 were scripted drama series, produced outside the United States, which were commercially available to American audiences, and which premiered in 2010 or later, except for the 2009 Prisoners of War which did not appear in America until 2012. The formation of unique local Israeli television, its vision, iconographies, narratives, characters and types, genres, and formats began its history with the emergence of state-regulated television in Israel in the 1960s.