This Is My Secret

This Is My Secret was a pioneering Israeli quiz show built around a simple and compelling idea: a person with a secret appeared before three celebrity contestants, who tried to discover the secret through questions that could be answered only with “yes” or “no.” Alongside suspense and humor, the program created a platform for personal stories, unusual talents, and people whose lives were briefly brought before a broad audience.

The television program was broadcast on Israeli television from 1975 to 1979, with an additional season in 1993. It was officially an Israeli original production and continued a program that had previously been broadcast on Kol Yisrael. At the same time, it belonged to the wider international tradition of secret-revealing quiz shows, including the American program I've Got a Secret, which began in the 1950s.

Format and distinctive character

Each episode placed three contestants opposite the person holding the secret. The contestants had a limited amount of time and a limited number of questions, all of which had to be phrased so that the answer could be affirmative or negative. In the original version, hosted by Uri Zohar, the contestants had four minutes and up to 20 questions. In the later version, hosted by Tuvia Tzipi, they had three minutes and up to 30 questions.

Once the secret was revealed, a filmed report presented the story and the person at its center. This combination of a fast studio game and short documentary-style segments gave the program a distinctly Israeli character. It was not based on prizes or financial rewards; its appeal came from curiosity, recognition, and the pleasure of learning something unexpected about another person.

This Is My Secret was also unusual because it did not award prizes. The tension came from solving the mystery and reaching the revelation itself rather than from competing for material gain. In that respect, it offered a form of entertainment centered on conversation, human interest, and the discovery of individual lives.

Hosts, contestants, and later revivals

The original television version was hosted by Uri Zohar. After Zohar became religiously observant, Tuvia Tzipi replaced him and also hosted the 1993 season. Contestants during the 1970s included Uri Aloni, Shaul Biber, Bella Almog, Natan Dunbivitz, Shfrira Zakai, Meir Uziel, Moshe Timor, Eli Tabor, Nurit Gefen, Yigal Shilon, and Moshe Rom, who later became mayor of Holon.

In December 2016, the show returned for ten episodes hosted by Avi Nussbaum as part of the Israel Broadcasting Authority’s farewell programming. Another season hosted by Nussbaum followed in 2017. Its return, decades after the original broadcasts, reflected the program’s place in Israeli television memory and demonstrated that its central format could still speak to new audiences.

From radio to television

The program’s roots were in broadcasts on Kol Yisrael during the 1950s and 1960s. In the mid-1950s, the program was edited by Shmuel Rozen. During the 1960s, its team included Yitzhak Tishler, Moshe Rivlin, Uri Dvir, and Mordechai Naor, and it was edited by Yitzhak Shimoni and Dan Biron.

The move from radio to television reflected the broader development of broadcasting in Israel. The basic idea remained intact, but television added a visual dimension: viewers could see the contestants’ reactions, observe the person holding the secret, and watch the filmed reports that completed each story. In this way, This Is My Secret formed part of the development of a local Israeli television culture at a time when television broadcasting was still limited but already had a powerful public presence.

Why This Is My Secret Belongs in Moreshet

This Is My Secret merits inclusion in Moreshet because it preserves an important chapter in Israeli popular culture: the movement of a radio concept to the center of television entertainment and its transformation into a local format remembered across several decades. The program joined amusement with curiosity and documentary storytelling, giving ordinary people and their experiences a place in the emerging Israeli media landscape.

Its significance lies not only in its longevity but also in the cultural memory it preserves: the hosts, editors, media professionals, and contestants who helped shape the early years of Israeli television, and the viewers who encountered the quiz-show format through a familiar local production. Its return in 2016 and 2017 confirmed the program’s continuing place in Israeli cultural memory. Recording that history on Moreshet.com helps preserve a meaningful part of the story of Israeli radio, television, and entertainment.