The Israeli television format and adaptation business is an established industrial category. Homeland, In Treatment, Fauda, and Euphoria are major exports.
Media & Entertainment · Israel · Updated June 28, 2026
Israeli television exports two distinct products: formats that foreign producers remake locally, and finished Israeli series that streamers and broadcasters distribute abroad. Over the past twenty years the first category has produced Homeland, In Treatment and Euphoria, and the second has produced international originals such as Fauda and Tehran. Olam's view is that conditions in a country of roughly ten million people — a small domestic market, multilingual cultural inputs, military and intelligence-service narrative depth, and creators with international relationships — push producers to build stories that travel.
The Canonical Format Catalogue
The list of Israeli formats that produced significant international remakes runs deeper than most international observers recognize. Prisoners of War (Hatufim), created by Gideon Raff, was the format basis for Homeland on Showtime — one of the most commercially significant television franchises of the 2010s. BeTipul, created by Hagai Levi, was the format basis for In Treatment on HBO and has been remade in more than 20 territories, according to its distributor Dori Media (December 2024). Euphoria, originating in the Israeli Hot drama of the same name and adapted by Sam Levinson for HBO, became one of the defining American teen dramas of the late 2010s and early 2020s.
Tehran, the Israeli espionage thriller, is a co-production between Apple TV and the Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11, and it was distributed internationally on Apple TV rather than remade. Fauda, the Israeli special-operations drama, was distributed through Netflix directly; its fifth season reached Netflix worldwide on September 8, 2026. The Spy, based on the historical Eli Cohen story, was a Netflix original co-production with Israeli involvement. None of these three is a foreign remake.
The pattern across the catalogue is consistent. Israeli formats travel particularly well in espionage, political-military thriller, psychological drama, and contemporary coming-of-age categories. A separate commercial layer is Israeli-origin unscripted formats, including Still Standing, created by Channel 10 and July-August Productions, and Power Couple, created by Abot Hameiri. Their distributors report sales in more than 40 and more than 25 territories respectively, which is broader than most scripted formats. Olam's study of Israeli TV formats that went global compares the documented figures and keeps remakes and distributed originals as separate measures.
The Production Architecture
The Israeli television production industry runs through three principal commercial channels and their associated production houses. Keshet Broadcasting, the largest Israeli commercial broadcaster, operates Keshet International as its global format-distribution arm. Reshet Media, the second commercial broadcaster, operates similar international distribution structures. Yes Studios, the international sales and distribution arm of the Israeli satellite-television operator Yes, represents Fauda and the format Your Honor, among other titles.
Keshet International is the structural giant of the format cohort. The company operates offices in Los Angeles, London, and beyond, with a development-and-co-production architecture that produces direct international content with Israeli creative DNA. Avi Nir, the Keshet CEO across the principal expansion phase, built the company into one of the most consequential non-Hollywood international content producers.
The roles differ by title, and they should not be merged. For Fauda, yes TV and L. Benasuly Productions produce the series and yes Studios handles international distribution, while Netflix carries it worldwide. For Tehran, Kan 11 and Apple TV are the co-producers.
The Format-Export Economics
The format-export business model centres on the licensing fee paid by the international broadcaster or streamer to the Israeli format owner for the right to produce a localized version of an Israeli original. Licensing fees vary by format and by market, and Olam has not found public figures for individual deals.
Format owners can also negotiate back-end participation in successful remakes, depending on the contract. The terms of individual deals are generally not disclosed.
The economics of direct distribution — the Tehran, Fauda, and adjacent Netflix and Apple TV deals — are different. Direct distribution involves higher production budgets but eliminates the format-licensing fee and produces direct exposure to international subscriber economics through the streamer relationship.
The Structural Advantage
The structural advantage that produces the Israeli format-export position runs through several variables that are difficult to replicate in other small-market television industries.
The military-and-intelligence narrative depth. Israeli writers and creators have direct or close-relative experience with the institutional life of the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet, and the broader Israeli security apparatus. The narrative authenticity of formats like Hatufim, Fauda, and Tehran derives from creative teams with structural access to the operational environment they depict.
The multi-cultural creative class. The Israeli population includes Russian, Ethiopian, Moroccan, Iraqi, Yemenite, Argentine, French, and American immigrant communities that produce a structurally multi-perspective creative class. The narrative diversity translates into formats that read as authentic across multiple international cultural contexts.
The small-market economic discipline. The Israeli domestic television market is too small to support large production budgets without international economic participation. Israeli producers are structurally trained to build internationally portable stories rather than narrowly local productions. The discipline is the commercial origin of the format-export competence.
The international creative network. Israeli writers, producers, and directors have, across the past two decades, built deep working relationships with U.S. cable, streamer, and broadcaster executives. The relationship architecture enables the format-export business in a way that several other small-market industries cannot replicate.
The Post-October-7 Position
The October 2023 war and its aftermath created turbulence for the Israeli television business, including cultural-boycott pressure on Israeli content in some jurisdictions. Several Israeli-origin formats and direct-distribution titles continued international production through the period, and the relationships between Israeli production houses and international platforms held in most cases.
Olam has not established whether the volume of Israeli format and series exports has fallen, because no dated comparative deal counts are publicly available. Recent individual data points point in different directions: Your Honor added new adaptations in 2025 and 2026, Fauda's fifth season reached Netflix in September 2026, and Tehran's third season premiered in January 2026. The question remains open.
What 2026 Tracks
Three threads matter. First, the Netflix, Apple, and Amazon engagement with Israeli content through the 2026-2027 development cycle and the question of whether the volume of Israeli-origin commissions returns to historical levels. Second, the Keshet International commercial performance and the broader competitive position of the major Israeli format-export houses. Third, the broader European and Asian market trajectory for Israeli content as the post-October-7 cultural environment evolves.
The Israeli format-export business is a structural cultural-economic asset. The position has held through cycles. The current cycle is a test the industry has not yet fully resolved.
Olam coverage
- Israeli television and the format-export commercial cohort
- Keshet International and Yes Studios
- Research study: Israeli TV formats and shows that went global
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