In Israel, Jerusalem Post author calls for scrutiny of NAZA film sources
In Israel, the discussion surrounding the film NAZA by directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor has focused on anonymous testimony from 24 Israeli military personnel and intelligence employees. The Israel Defense Forces rejected the film’s claims, stating, among other things, that the anonymity of the sources complicates the independent verification of information.
Jerusalem Post author Ido Lazari wrote in a column that concealing interviewees’ names does not in itself make their claims unreliable. In his view, what matters is how the filmmakers established the identities of the sources, verified their access to information, and compared the testimony with other data.
Questions for the directors
Lazari believes the directors should explain whether they confirmed that the interviewees served in the positions they described, whether they verified each claim through several sources, and which documents or data they saw. He also proposes clarifying whether there was testimony that contradicted the film’s assertions, what information was provided to the Israel Defense Forces before publication, and what its response was.
According to the columnist, it should be established whether the 24 interviewees represent different units and systems or whether some of them describe the same episodes. He called editorial decisions in cases where sources provide different versions of events a separate issue.
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Examples of anonymous sources
Lazari cited examples of the use of anonymous sources in Israeli media. In particular, after Walla published a report in 2016 about alleged sexual misconduct by Moshe Ivgy, police launched an investigation. Ivgy was later sentenced to 11 months in prison for indecent acts and sexual harassment.
At the same time, the author mentioned the so-called “Galant document,” published in 2010. Investigators later determined that the document was forged, and Boaz Harpaz was convicted of forging and using it. In Lazari’s view, anonymity is neither proof of truthfulness nor grounds to automatically dismiss information, but it raises the requirements for its verification.
The author emphasized that the existence of 24 anonymous testimonies does not in itself prove the film’s truthfulness: such testimony may be biased, incomplete, or taken out of context. He believes that the verification process used by the creators of NAZA should be assessed above all.
