Gilad Shalit Visits ‘Homeland’ Set
Image by Getty Images
In what was a surrealistic scene, former Hamas captive Gilad Shalit, smiling and in dark shades, visited the set of “Homeland” in Israel. The Showtime series, about CIA agents working to prevent American Iraq War POWs suspected of being turned by Al-Qaeda from committing terrorism, is based on the Israeli TV show “Hatufim.” The show’s creators have said that Shalit’s saga had been an inspiration for their work in creating the series.
Shalit got to meet actors Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin, who play Carrie Mathison and Saul Berenson, respectively, as they were filming some scenes for the series’ second season on Yefet Street in Jaffa. Shalit, who was accompanied by family members and some reporters, also met Gidi Raff, the show’s co-creator and executive producer.
Homeland first aired while Shalit was still in Hamas captivity. However, from what he told the Homeland cast, he caught up on the first season’s episodes since returning to his own homeland last fall after more than five years in Gaza. Shalit, recently discharged from the IDF, commented on the authenticity of the scripts and said he is a big fan of the show.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
