The Israel connection of 24’s Jack Bauer

With the reprisal of “24: Live Another Day,” it has emerged that inimitable counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, may have some Israeli military toughness in his genes.

“I have two cousins in Israel. One is a helicopter pilot and the other is a tank commander,” Sutherland told a British interviewer, in a clip unearthed by “Good Evening with Guy Pines.” “My sister got to visit a kibbutz, but I didn’t.”

Sutherland has other Israeli connections. The new season of “24,” which was partially filmed in London, is executive produced by Howard Gordon, the American writer and producer also known for creating “Homeland.” That award-winning show was created with Gideon Raff, and based on Raff’s Israeli series, “Prisoners of War.”

The two are now working on a new show, “The Tyrant,” for FX. The show, produced partially in Tel Aviv, is about the younger son of the dictator of a war-torn nation who ends a self-imposed 20-year exile to return to his homeland, accompanied by his American wife and children.