The creator of the hugely popular Israeli TV series ‘Shtisel’ is reportedly working on a new series about Austrian-Jewish journalist and playwright Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism.

The series is being developed by Ori Elon, according to Deadline, who wrote the script for the hit Israeli TV series ‘Shtisel’ that follows the life of a Charedi family. He was also behind a series called ‘Srugim’, which is a popular series about Modern Orthodox singles in Jerusalem. 

The Herzl production is said to be in its “early stages”, but is thought to be based on Herzl’s diaries, documenting his journey from playwright to leader of a movement that resulted in the founding of the State of Israel. 

The production is being funded by Inbar Nacht, and Israeli attorney and philanthropist whose family foundation helped hundreds of people escape the Taliban after the Western withdrawal from Afghanistan, and also supported artists during the pandemic. 

Herzl was born in 1960 in what is now Budapest, Hungary, to middle-class parents. His career was devoted to journalism and literature; he worked at a Vienna newspaper before becoming a correspondent in Paris. 

He covered the trial of Alfred Dreyfus, which is an infamous political scandal and case of antisemitism that saw a French-Jewish army captain falsely convicted as a spy for Germany. He witnessed crowds chanting “Death to the Jews”, according to his own account, and said later that that turned him into aZionist. 

He was the founder and president of the Zionist Organisation, a political movement to establish an independent Jewish state. 

Herzl visited Jerusalem for the first time in October 1898, but died in 1904, 44 years before the creation of the modern State of Israel that he was working towards.