Israeli TV industry tells Netflix it’s time to invest locally
Executives and screenwriters say without international streamers sinking in cash, Israeli series will dry up: ‘We are a cultural industry in the midst of a severe crisis’
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

Israel can lay claim to “Fauda,” “Shtisel,” “Tehran,” and other award-winning local series that have given Israeli TV a name worldwide. But without outside investment in the local industry, there won’t be much original Israeli television in the future.
That’s the message from a consortium of industry leaders, screenwriters and professionals in a letter sent to Netflix officials following a recent visit to the region.
Signatories including Lior Tamam, CEO of the Screenwriters Guild, Eliran Elya, who chairs the Directors Guild, and screenwriter Daniel Lappin wrote to Netflix that without a regulatory framework that legally obligates industry platforms to invest in original Israeli creation, there will be no original Israeli TV series.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi introduced a broadcasting bill over 18 months ago, now under review by the justice and communications ministries, that would require international content providers to invest between two and four percent of their local revenues in Israeli content, depending on the size of their operation.
Getting behind the government bill, the letter stated, “The local Israeli industry is shrinking by tens of millions of shekels annually. Soon there will be nothing left for you to buy and broadcast, soon there won’t be second seasons to invest in. We are a cultural industry in the midst of a severe crisis, and Netflix, despite its good intentions, despite not being the main wrongdoer, and despite its investments in the Israeli market, is part of the problem.”
Several Europe-based Netflix executives, including Larry Tanz, vice president of content for Netflix Europe, Middle East and Africa, came to Israel in late January to discuss the long-debated Broadcasting Law, meeting with Israeli television creators and Karhi, among others.

Netflix did not provide a response to The Times of Israel and does not disclose its subscriber base.
However, estimates are that the giant streaming platform has more than 1.5 million customers in Israel –- the equivalent of the total subscriber base of Israel’s Hot cable and Yes satellite television combined.
International streaming platforms such as Netflix, Cellcom and Partner, which came into the market over the last decade, bringing dozens of channels to Israeli viewers, are not obligated to invest in local production, unlike local channels Hot and Yes, which legally have to take 8% of their revenue and reinvest it in original productions.
“The Israeli industry won’t exist if there is no regulation,” said Tamam. “We’re not like the American market that has no regulatory framework. That market doesn’t need regulation because it’s so big and has investment.”

The local industry, including its creatives, wants the Israeli market to look more like the European market, where regulation has forced streaming platforms to invest in local productions.
In December, Netflix’s Tanz shared that Netflix invested €6.5 billion ($6.8 billion) in European, non-English series and films in Spain, Norway, Denmark, France, Poland and Italy, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Netflix does invest in Israeli TV by acquiring shows but doesn’t always invest in production, and that’s what’s needed to keep the local industry active.
In 2024, Netflix launched “Bros,” the first fully Hebrew and Israeli original production for the streaming platform that was originally slated to premiere in early November but was postponed in the wake of the October 7 Hamas massacre.
It also helps develop local talent by a partnership with the Sam Spiegel Film School.
However, say local creatives, that’s not quite enough.
“It’s a simple equation,” said Daniel Lappin, a screenwriter for “Zehu Ze” and other Israeli TV shows. “The income of Hot and Yes is being reduced because of Netflix and that means they’ll be producing less original content. They’re taking a portion of the Israeli market, reducing original Israeli content and walking away scot-free,” he said. “It’s intolerable.”
Those who are fighting this battle are largely writers who are successful and could work elsewhere, even in another language, said Esti Namdar, a screenwriter whose 2021 “Beauty Queen of Jerusalem” was produced by Yes and then picked up by Netflix.
But she and other screenwriters want to work in Israel, in Hebrew.
“If you want to make an Israeli TV drama, you need a local broadcaster like Hot or Yes to fund it and produce it,” said Namdar. “If we didn’t have Yes to do ‘Beauty Queen’ or ‘Your Honor’ or [public broadcaster] Kan to do ‘Tehran,’ then they wouldn’t happen.”
“It’s not a cliche, it’s the real truth,” added Tamam. “We see how the creative work is going down the drain. There won’t be anyone else doing Israeli TV. Yeah, we’re great, but you need investment to do creative work in the local industry.”