Igal Naor

Igal Naor (Hebrew: יגאל נאור; born (1958-06-25)25 June 1958) is an Israeli actor, sometimes credited as Yigal Naor. Naor has acted over three decades, in both film and television. His notable film credits include his debut in Deadline (1987), an award-winning role in Saint Clara (1996), and international roles in Munich (2005), Rendition (2007), Green Zone (2010), and 300: Rise of an Empire (2014). In television, Naor is recognized for his title role in the miniseries House of Saddam (2008), along with performances in The Honourable Woman (2014), Homeland (2015), Riviera (2017–18), and Fauda (2017–18). His most recent movie was the 2026 American historical drama film Monument, directed by Bryan Singer. In that film Naor acted as General Antoine Lahad, leader of the South Lebanon Army, alongside Jon Voight and Joseph Mazzello. Naor was born on June 25, 1958, in Givatayim, Israel, to Mizrahi Jewish parents. His parents had emigrated from Baghdad, Iraq, in the early 1950s following the creation of Israel. Because his parents worked long hours, Naor was raised primarily by his Iraqi-born grandmother during his first five years. As a result of this upbringing, his first language and mother tongue was Arabic; he spoke exclusively Arabic and did not know any Hebrew during his early childhood years. Naor has credited this immersion in a traditional Iraqi household and Arabic culture as fundamental to his later acting career, noting that it provided him with the cultural and linguistic depth to authentically portray Middle Eastern characters, such as Saddam Hussein. Naor began his professional acting career in 1987, making his feature film debut as Antoine in the war thriller Deadline (also released as Witness in the War Zone), directed by Nathaniel Gutman and starring Christopher Walken. Over the next decade, he appeared in productions including the drama film The Seventh Coin. His major breakthrough arrived in 1996 with his performance as the eccentric Headmaster Tissona in the cult classic comedy-drama Saint Clara (Hebrew: חלוש החלשה, Clara Hakedosha), directed by Ari Folman and Ori Sivan. The film became a hallmark of 1990s Israeli cinema, sweeping the national awards circuit.