Yes Studios, Fauda, and the Israeli Original International Distribution Architecture
Yes Studios, the international distribution arm of Israeli pay-TV operator Yes, has built one of the most successful Israeli original television distribution catalogs. Inside the Fauda Netflix partnership, the Shtisel international success, and the broader architecture of Israeli original international distribution.
Yes Studios operates as the international distribution arm of Yes, the Israeli satellite pay-television operator now owned by Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corporation. Through approximately a decade of operational activity, Yes Studios has built one of the most institutionally successful catalogs of Israeli original television distribution to international markets.
The Fauda partnership with Netflix (operational from 2016), the Shtisel international success (also distributed through Netflix), and the broader 2018-2026 catalog have anchored Israeli original international distribution as a structural category within the global television distribution market.
The Fauda partnership
Fauda — created by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff and originally produced for Yes — entered the Netflix global catalog in 2016. The series, focusing on an Israeli undercover counterterrorism unit operating in the West Bank, became one of the most internationally distributed Israeli original series in television history.
Four seasons aired through 2023; subsequent additional production has been periodically reported. The international audience expanded substantially across the multi-season run; specific viewership figures from Netflix are not publicly disclosed per Netflix policy on title-specific viewership data.
The Fauda success structurally validated the international distribution market for Israeli original drama and substantially accelerated international acquirer interest in Israeli original content.
Shtisel and adjacent catalog
Shtisel — created by Yehonatan Indursky and Ori Elon, produced for Yes — also entered Netflix global distribution. The series, focusing on an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem, achieved substantial international audience particularly within and adjacent to American Jewish viewers, though with broader audience reach beyond.
The Yes Studios catalog has expanded substantially through 2018-2026 with additional series across drama, comedy, and documentary categories distributed across Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and the broader international streaming distribution architecture.
The format-licensing architecture
Israeli original television produces particularly active activity in the international format-licensing market — the licensing of program formats to international productions that produce localized versions.
The original Israeli format Be'Tipul became the HBO US series In Treatment (multiple seasons across HBO and HBO Max). The Israeli format Prisoners of War (Hatufim) became the Showtime series Homeland (multi-season Emmy-winning production). Multiple additional Israeli formats have been licensed to international productions across the US, UK, German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin American television markets.
The format licensing architecture operates substantially through Keshet International (the international distribution arm of Keshet Media Group) and the broader Israeli format-licensing tier alongside Yes Studios.
The structural Israeli production architecture
Israeli original television production operates substantially through the major Israeli broadcasters and operators:
— Yes Studios (Yes / Bezeq) — Keshet International (Keshet Media Group, operator of Keshet 12 Israeli broadcast channel) — Kan (Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation) — Reshet (operator of Channel 13 Israeli broadcast channel) — HOT (cable operator, owned by Altice)
The Israeli production environment combines relatively modest domestic production budgets (compared with US prestige-television budgets) with substantial creative output and a mature production-and-talent ecosystem.
Why Israeli original content succeeds internationally
Several structural factors anchor the Israeli original content position in international distribution.
First — substantive subject matter. Israeli original drama frequently addresses subject matter (national security, religious-cultural dynamics, historical trauma, political complexity) at higher density than typical commercial drama in many other production markets.
Second — production cost efficiency. Israeli original production typically operates at substantially lower per-episode budgets than US prestige television, producing favorable acquisition economics for international distributors.
Third — creative-talent depth. The Israeli writer-producer-director-actor talent layer operates at mature scale, with multi-generational creative capacity feeding the production architecture.
What 2026-2027 looks like
The continued international distribution of Israeli original content through 2026-2027 reflects the maturity of the production architecture and the international acquirer interest. The format-licensing business continues alongside the direct international-distribution business.
The post-October 7 environment has produced selective public-pressure activity on individual international distribution platforms and on individual Israeli productions; the structural commercial relationships have continued operating through 2024-2026.
Source data: Yes Studios public materials; Keshet International public materials; coverage in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Times of Israel, Calcalist, Globes; Netflix and adjacent streaming-platform corporate disclosures. Data current as of Q2 2026.