The star and creator of one of Israel's most popular TV shows has taken to the front lines of Israel's war with Hamas terrorists in the southern Israeli town of Sderot.
Posting on social media, Lior Raz said that he was serving alongside other volunteers from the 'brothers in arms' protest movement in the south of the country.
Accompanied by Yohanan Plesner @yplesner and Avi @issacharoff , I headed down south to join hundreds of brave "brothers in arms" volunteers who worked tirelessly to assist the population in the south of Israel. We were sent to the bombarded town of Sderot to extract 2 families pic.twitter.com/WpM9JLeOZM
— Lior Raz (@lioraz) October 9, 2023
Posting that he was with President of the Israel Democracy Institute, Yohanan Plesner and Fauda co-creator Avi Isacharoff - Raz, a veteran of an elite Israeli combat unit said: "I headed down south to join hundreds of brave "brothers in arms" volunteers who worked tirelessly to assist the population in the south of Israel. We were sent to the bombarded town of Sderot to extract two families." The post was accompanied by a video of Raz sheltering from Hamas rockets.
Earlier today, the actor and filmmaker posted an appeal for calm on his Instagram story. He said: "We are appealing to you - please remember this day even later in the war. Remember who started the massacre. Hamas is an organization that wants to destroy the Jews and does not want to talk about peace in any conditions.
"When the war turns, and we promise you that we Israelis will turn it, and Gaza will absorb the losses, remember that we go into this war with a heavy heart, with no desire to kill innocents, and with no choice in the face of those who come against us."
Raz enlisted in the elite Sayeret Dudevan unit of the Israeli army after his teenage girlfriend was killed by an Arab terrorist in Jerusalem in 1990. The man was released by Israel in exchange for captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
While filming series four of Fauda, the actor said that he found it hard to dwell on his time in the army, telling the JC:"It has opened many wounds. For me, it was through the acting, not necessarily through the writing or creating.
"For example, last season I was talking to a character in his grave. I started to cry and couldn’t stop for about half an hour. The crew just left me; I couldn’t stop because everything was coming out.”