In one of those ‘bet-you-would-never-believe-this’ scenarios, Israeli television has become a prolific incubator for American drama series. Among the many shows adapted from initial Israeli incarnations are such projects as Homeland, No Man’s Land, In Treatment, and The Baker and the Beauty. Two of the most productive talents behind some of those shows are Ron Leshem and his long time writing partner Amit Cohen, who are now bringing forth their latest, Valley of Tears. An eight-part mini-series, the show focuses on the events that led to and unfolded over the 1973s Yom Kippur War. While it proved to be a pivotal confrontation in the volatile Middle East, the story has never been dramatized before; that is until the two creators decided it was time for their country to face the past.

You set this series during one of the most complex wars in Israel’s history. Why did you choose this particular setting?

LESHEM: It is a war that changed the Middle East forever and changed Israel forever. Yet unlike Vietnam for America, we practically never talk about it in our homes or with our parents. It is a moment when we were standing before total destruction but it is an untold story. It is the first TV series ever told about that. As we tour the show around the world, everyone comments that it is the most expensive show in Israeli TV history. That is true but what is heartbreaking for us is that growing up, it was a trauma that we were not allowed to talk about. It was that heavy a burden for our parents.

You chose to combine historical footage with fictional characters. As you were creating the show, how did you decide what kind of archetypes you wanted to inhabit the series?

COHEN: We came to this process with a lot of responsibility because so many of those who fought are still alive. We knew how sensitive they would be. Ron and I both used to be journalists so we did extensive research on the war. For months, we went to sleep knowing where every tank division was stationed and what language they used to communicate. We interviewed people and went to small museums that are only dedicated to armor corp for research. Once we were comfortable with reality, then we set out to define the drama. This is not a documentary. It is not even a docu-drama. It is a TV show and we must follow all the dramatic rules which mean we wanted to focus on the characters and their emotional and psychological journeys. We wanted to tell the story of friendships, being both created and destroyed.

One thinks that your audience might feel their stories are being told.

COHEN: In Israel, people look at the characters we created and start seeing themselves. They keep asking us if some of these situations really happened. Did a pilot get shot down and a small group went to rescue him? Did an Israeli soldier and a Syrian soldier have a dialogue? The answer is yes. All of these moments are inspired by real events. Many of the characters are a hybrid of real people but in the end, it is fictional.

LESHEM: That said, our parents are there. We are there. Amit’s father is like the nerdy guy from intelligence. Both of us actually served in the intelligence unit so we grew up with all that.

Speaking of real people, the character played by Lior Ashkenazi sure did remind me of Gérard Depardieu. Am I wrong?

LESHEM: That is one of the inspirations for us. This was the time when the Sixties just started to arrive in Israel. So, journalists and writers took that mantle and started becoming more into social justice, drugs and orgies (laugh). Since we premiered, so many people are trying to find themselves, their parents or the families in these characters.

In the news, we witness the constant conflict in Israel but in your show, as with many others, there is this effort to find some semblance of harmony between Israeli and Palestinian. How important was that element in Valley of Tears?

LESHEM: We are asked a lot about the ‘other side’. Everything that comes out of Israel, people are looking for the politics. Even if I try and convince the audience to view compassion and empathy, some view that as politics. In the show, we are showcasing this national reckoning for Israel in trying to ask, ‘Are we better people?’ This is a very social thing. The war in it brings great conflict and is a history that needs to be told, but the show is all about Israeli society.

There are people like Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes and David E. Kelley who have been so prolific in creating compelling television. But they operate in the US. The two of you work out of Israel and have brought so much variant TV to worldwide audiences. How do you explain your ability to tap into the viewer’s imagination?

COHEN: In a way like with Valley of Tears, you are witnessing the evolution of Israeli TV. For years we couldn’t do a show like this, in regard to budgets and effects. So, we were forced to focus on the conflict of characters, without using the crutches of helicopters and explosions. Israeli’s are also super neurotic. When you do drama, you must compete with reality which forces you to come up with new stories. So, Israeli writers focused on something universal, human drama but are edgy and realistic. Ron and have been doing this for more than 10 years and created 5 shows, so we know how to create these types of characters.

One of those previous shows is now Euphoria. Zendaya won the Emmy. What can we expect from season 2?

LESHEM: We do have two one-offs coming out soon. The pandemic really hit us before we could start the second season. We fought for six years to get someone in the US to believe in Euphoria. It was almost impossible. We had 20 networks pass. They always told us the show should be more comedic. They didn’t believe in our DNA but Sam Levinson and HBO believed in it. What drove us to fight for it, we were always asked when we came to the US for meetings what our next espionage story was. We didn’t want to do another Homeland. As filmmakers, we wanted to create a Trainspotting meets Gus Van Sant.