Israeli Video Streaming Service Launches Prime Ministers of Israel Film Series

Shiryn Ghermezian

Israel’s first prime minister David Ben-Gurion. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Israeli video on-demand streaming service IZZY debuted on Wednesday the first movie in its Prime Ministers of Israel Film Series, which features documentaries and biographies about Israel’s past leaders.

The series starts with the documentary Ben Gurion, Epilogue from director Yariv Mozer. David Ben-Gurion was Israel’s first prime minister from 1955-1963 and is considered to be the founder of the Jewish state. The film spotlights a lost interview with the former Israeli world leader from 1968, when Ben-Gurion is 82 and living in the desert. In its description of the film, IZZY said Ben-Gurion’s “introspective soul-searching provides a surprising vision for crucial decisions Israel needs to make today. At the time of the global leadership crisis, the film also brings thought-provoking insights about the role of leaders in today’s complex world.”

Launched in 2020, IZZY is a subscription-based streaming service available worldwide that highlights Israeli films, television shows and documentaries.

“We want to be the platform for Israeli content and to provide the opportunity for people around the world to see content from Israel that we believe enhances the world’s relationship with Israel because you see a more diverse story that just what comes out in the news outlets,” IZZY Co-Founder and CEO Nati Dinnar told The Algemeiner on Thursday. “We try to bring all sorts of content that could interest our subscribers. Films and biographies about influential Israelis are always something that we search out for [and] I think it’s interesting to learn about the prime ministers and the differences between them.”

The next film in the series, 2019’s Golda, is about Golda Meir’s term as prime minister of Israel, from her rise to power and status as “queen of the Jewish people” to her downfall. The documentary will be released on IZZY next week followed later by the 2020 film Menachem Begin – Peace & War, which includes rare archival footage about Israel’s sixth prime minister as well as interviews with key figures during Begin’s term.