‘Fauda’ Just Scored Its Best-Ever Netflix Chart Position With a Season Built Around October 7

Few international dramas have managed to cross as many borders as ‘Fauda,’ the Israeli action thriller that has spent years building a loyal global audience through its unflinching look at counterterrorism operations. Created by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff, the series has consistently found viewers well beyond Israel since its earlier seasons first landed on Netflix.

The show’s fifth season arrived with especially high stakes, given its direct focus on the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks and their lasting aftermath. Set two years after that day, the new season follows Raz’s character Doron as he struggles with PTSD while getting pulled into an unsanctioned revenge mission alongside an old friend, with two episodes specifically depicting the events of October 7 itself.

That heavy subject matter hasn’t slowed the show’s momentum. ‘Fauda’ just scored its highest position ever on Netflix’s weekly streaming rankings, landing at number four among non-English language series for the week of September 7 to 13, according to the streamer’s internal data reported by The Hollywood Reporter. That mark surpasses the show’s previous best, when season four peaked at number seven back in January 2023.

Season five pulled in 2.1 million views worldwide for the week, translating to 15.9 million hours of watch time given its runtime of just under 7.5 hours. The season landed in the top 10 in 41 countries, mostly across Europe and Asia, while claiming the number one spot outright in both Israel and Lebanon.

The strength of that international reach is especially notable given the subject matter. Raz has spoken publicly about how central the October 7 storyline became to the season, describing his hope that showing his character’s experience of that day would help audiences around the world understand what Israelis went through, regardless of where they were watching from.

🚨 You’ve been patient, so here’s a little sneak peek to what’s coming in Season 5 🚨#season5 #ComingSoon pic.twitter.com/gFM9SN0gPA

— Fauda Official (@FaudaOfficial) July 24, 2025

Most of the season is set in 2025 as the characters continue grappling with the fallout of the attacks, while the two episodes depicting October 7 itself have drawn especially strong reactions from viewers across multiple countries since the season’s September 8 global release. That response has helped push the show into the top 10 in dozens of markets within days of its premiere.

The season also ranked above titles like the Dutch thriller ‘The Perfect Lie,’ the Chinese romance ‘The Early Spring’ and the Mexican drama ‘Lovesick’ on the same non-English chart, while season two of ‘The Gentlemen’ led the English-language rankings for the same week with 9.9 million views. For a show built around such a specific and emotionally charged chapter of recent history, breaking its own chart record speaks to just how far its reach has extended since Netflix began tracking these weekly rankings back in 2021.

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