Lovers of the Israeli period melodrama “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” we have some great news. The show, about the Sephardi Ermoza family, whose members are cursed when it comes to love, is coming back to Netflix on July 14!
The full second season of the show, which has already aired in Israel, will be 16 episodes long and available to stream in the U.S. and all major markets. The second season meets our heroes in 1940s Jerusalem, right where we left them at the end of season one. The beauty queen herself, Luna (Swell Ariel Or), has recently married David (Israel Ogalbo), yet their union is fraught from the start, exacerbated as the two make their way into the bohemian circle of British officers in Jerusalem.
Gabriel (Michael Aloni) takes on the search of the lost son (Michael Givati, who joins this season as an official castmember) he didn’t know he had with his illicit Ashkenazi lover Rochel (Yuval Scharf), while Rosa (Hila Saada) and the other women in the family are trying to keep the family business afloat. As for Ephraim, Rosa’s militant resistance fighter brother, he gets even more radicalized as the establishment of the Jewish state draws nearer.
The new season also brings a cast of new Israeli cast members, including Shiri Maimon, who plays the owner of a butcher shop, Aki Avni and Michael Lewis, who both play British officers, and KimOr Azulay as Amalia, the daughter of the milkman, Tuvia, played by Guy Arieli (yes, that’s right, Tuvia the milkman — we see that little “Fiddler” nod!).
Fair warning: This season deals with domestic violence. In Israel, Yes aired a PSA on the topic in collaboration with the Michal Sela Forum, sharing the warning signs apparent in the show, like gaslighting and obsessive behavior, and urging those who recognize these warning signs to call a domestic violence hotline (in the U.S., you can reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline).
Season two already won four awards at the Israeli TV Academy Awards, including Best Daily Drama. It is ambitious, glamorous and dark, and viewers definitely have an intense ride ahead of them. If you can’t wait until mid-July, consider reading the entrancing “Woman Beyond the Sea,” Sarit Yeshai-Levi’s sequel of sorts to “The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem,” which is finally available in English.
