Israel criticizes NAZA film after Venice award — Jerusalem Post

In Israel, the documentary film NAZA by Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Tzor sparked a sharp reaction from politicians after receiving the Special Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival. According to The Jerusalem Post, the film was honored on September 12 and also received an unprecedented 25-minute standing ovation.

The film is formally a British production, but it was written and directed by Abraham and Tzor. The work is based on testimonies from 24 anonymous former Israeli military personnel, officers and intelligence employees. They speak about decision-making regarding so-called collateral damage among civilians during strikes on military targets in the Gaza Strip.

Politicians' reaction

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed a legislative initiative to strip citizenship for defaming Israel Defense Forces service members, as well as a separate proposal to increase fines in defamation cases by 20 times. He also criticized opposition parties, including the Democrats, for failing to condemn the film and its authors.

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Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar demanded the stripping of citizenship and appealed to Shin Bet chief David Zini to urgently investigate the origin of the information and materials used in the film.

Testimonies of anonymous interlocutors

The columnist notes that the investigation may concern the film's 24 anonymous interlocutors. According to her account, they may allegedly have disclosed classified information obtained during service in military and intelligence units. Some military sources mentioned in the publication also claimed that part of the information in the film is false.

In a conversation with Channel 13 journalist Raviv Drucker, Yuval Abraham said that the need for the film might not have arisen if Israeli media had covered the issue of collateral damage in greater detail at the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas. Drucker, who watched the film, agreed that the media had paid insufficient attention to the issue.