Israel targets Naza filmmakers after Gaza documentary wins Venice prize

Israeli officials are moving to investigate the makers and sources of Naza, an award-winning documentary that accuses the Israeli military of building mass civilian deaths into targeting decisions during the Gaza war.

The film, directed by Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival after receiving a 25-minute standing ovation at its premiere. It has not yet been released to the wider public.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the documentary “shocking” in a video posted on Telegram and accused it of contributing to global anti-Semitic incitement. “We are fighting global anti-Semitic incitement, and when it comes from within us it is intolerable,” he said. “And now two Israeli directors portraying the [Israeli military] as war criminals receive applause at the Venice festival.”

Culture Minister Miki Zohar said he had asked authorities “to investigate how the materials were obtained, who is behind them, and whether in the process of obtaining or publishing them, actions were taken that amount to aiding the enemy during wartime.” In a letter to the Interior Ministry, he raised the possibility of revoking the filmmakers’ citizenship, citing Israel’s Citizenship Law and what he described as “treason against the state.” The BBC reported that the measure has rarely been applied.

Zohar said the film’s claims were “false and distorted” and wrote, “I categorically reject the attempt to portray IDF soldiers and the State of Israel as perpetrators of intentional crimes.”

The documentary takes its name from the Hebrew military acronym for collateral damage, or expected collateral casualties. According to its official synopsis, Naza “details the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.” The BBC reported that the 80-minute film is based on interviews with 24 unidentified Israeli military and intelligence officers who describe AI-powered targeting systems used by the Israeli army during the war that began after the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

One person interviewed in the film says approval was given for an attack expected to kill 500 people for “one human target,” an allegation the Israel Defense Forces said was “completely false.”

The IDF initially said it “categorically rejects” the allegations. Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, an IDF spokesperson, later said the full film had not been released but that promotional material presented “a series of serious and false allegations regarding the IDF and its personnel.” He invited the filmmakers to allow IDF representatives to view the full documentary “so that we can address each of the allegations it raises on merits.”

Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir has instructed the Military Advocate General “to examine and advance possible legal measures concerning the film and those involved in it,” according to Al Jazeera. Zamir said the film, based on what had been published, was not a critique or an effort to establish the truth but was built on “blood libels, deliberate distortions of reality, and grave, false accusations against [Israeli] soldiers and commanders.”

Abraham defended the reporting behind the film, which the BBC said was produced by The Guardian, calling it “rigorous” and saying efforts to discredit it were “attempts to not face reality.” Speaking to the Associated Press, he said, “It’s a war that has principally been killing civilians. And I think our film is showing that this is not some mistake. It’s not an accident. It’s something very, very systemic.”

In his Venice acceptance speech, Abraham said, “We believe that the denial of a crime is what helps it persist, and this is why it is especially important for us that Israelis watch this film.”

More than 73,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the BBC said are considered reliable by the United Nations. Al Jazeera cited Gaza health authorities as reporting more than 73,700 Palestinian deaths, most of them civilians. About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

Other Israeli politicians have also criticized the film. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called it a “horrific blood libel against our sons and daughters,” and former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the directors as “haters of Israel.” More than 700 film industry members signed a petition supporting the filmmakers, saying they faced a “campaign of incitement and vilification.” Israeli actor and screenwriter Shlomi Elkabetz told Israel’s N12 channel: “These are questions [raised in the film] that must be examined, not silenced.”