New episode puts the Jewish home in ‘Homeland’
Award-winning Israeli writer-director Gideon Raff is not shy of showcasing his native land in his popular thriller TV series
Passover comes early this year to fans of the hit American “Homeland” TV series. Aired in the US on Showtime on October 25, episode 4 of season 5 opens with a seder at the home of the Israeli ambassador in Berlin.
At the holiday meal, with the sounds of Hebrew singing in the background, Ambassador “Itai” reminds guests — among them CIA bureau chief Allison Carr (played by Miranda Otto) and former veteran officer Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) — to take a moment to remember “the enemies we still have all over the world who wish to destroy us.”
In a subsequent private exchange with Berenson, the ambasassdor reminds the CIA operatives that the Israeli government does not support regime change in Syria, adding, “As long as Arabs are killing Arabs they are not shooting missiles into Israel.”
Although he did not write the “Why is this night different” episode, the influence of the show’s Israeli creator Gideon Raff can be felt, giving Israel’s public image a much needed boost. This is sharp contrast to the negative press episode 2 received a couple of weeks ago after production artists said they had criticized the show for being “racist” through unnoticed Arabic graffiti on the walls of the set.
The fifth season of “Homeland” began October 4 on Showtime. Set in Berlin two years after the conclusion of season 4, it explores cyberhacking and espionage, as well as the ongoing conflict in Syria and the Middle East at large.
Raff, who landed two Emmys in 2012 for his work on “Homeland” for Outstanding Drama and Outstanding Writing, began his screenwriting career by bringing contemporary concerns of Israel to the screen. He gained international recognition as the force behind the Israeli hit program “Hatufim” (“Prisoners of War”) on which “Homeland” is based.
Raff’s career is clearly thriving on material relating to his native land. Earlier this summer, he sold the rights for his feature film about Israel’s rescue of Ethiopian Jews to Fox Searchlight.
Raff was also co-creator of the 10-part action-thriller, “Dig,” set largely in Jerusalem. The show — which starred Jason Isaacs as an FBI agent stationed in Israel’s capita — explored a fictitious conspiracy to destroy the Temple Mount and bring about the biblically prophesized “End of Days,” raising the ire of anti-Israel factions.
“All of Jerusalem hums with history and the blood and passion of the world’s major religions and civilizations and the[ir] sacrifices and pain,” Issacs told The New York Post. “The things that they will do in the service of what they believe in is the danger that our story is about.”
Falling into the “one-and-done” category, USA Network did not renew it for a second season.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKYh8V0GFUA
Raff and his “Dig” co-creator Tim Kring, who created Fox’s “Heroes,” both borrowed from their own narratives for the show. Raff, a former paratrooper in the IDF, was born in Jerusalem, and Kring, who is also Jewish, immersed himself in religious studies at university.
Although Team “Dig” succeeded in shooting its pilot in Israel, it later relocated to New Mexico due to last summer’s Gaza war. FX’s Arab Spring-inspired “Tyrant,” whose pilot Raff wrote, also relocated due to the conflict. The political drama, which stars Israeli actor Moran Atias, has been renewed for a third season that will premiere on Hulu in 2016.
The Times of Israel Community.