Interestingly enough, The Big Lebowski was a big box office hit in Israel. It has been viewed by hundreds of thousands on screen, and is still aired on TV every couple of months. This could be explained by its witty treatment of several Israeli open nerves, among which:
* Die Hard Jewish converts - "shomer fucking shabbos!"
* Nazism - "at least it's an ethos"
* Fear of terrorist actions - "My only hope is that the big Lebowski kills me before the Germans can cut my dick off"
* The Gulf War - "look at our current situation with that camelfucker in Iraq"
More:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Lebowski