Israel's culture minister has called for the Oscar-winning co-directors of the documentary 'Naza' to be investigated for potential treason and stripped of their citizenship, accusing them of aiding the enemy over claims that the Israeli army engaged in the "calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians" in Gaza.
In a post on X, Culture Minister Miki Zohar stated 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." Zohar also sent a letter to Israel's Interior Ministry, asserting that the film's claims are "false and distorted" and that the Citizenship Law allows for the "revocation of citizenship due to a 'breach of allegiance to the State of Israel'." This measure, however, is rarely applied.
The film, named for the Hebrew military acronym for collateral damage, features testimonies from 24 unidentified Israeli military and intelligence officers. It details the AI-powered targeting systems reportedly used by the Israeli army to bombard Gaza in the war that began after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack. The filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, state the documentary "details the systems behind Israel's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza" during the current conflict. One interviewee alleges that approval was given to kill 500 people for "one human target," an assertion the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has called "completely false."
According to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, figures considered reliable by the UN, over 73,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, have been killed in the IDF's campaign. Approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
'Naza' premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a 25-minute standing ovation and a special jury prize. The film has not yet been made available to the wider public. Abraham described the reporting for the film, produced by The Guardian, as "rigorous" and characterized efforts to discredit it as "attempts to not face reality."
"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. And this should have been apparent to everyone, I think, from the start. But we are showing it from the inside, with insider testimony," Abraham told the Associated Press.
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The IDF, after an initial statement of categorical rejection of the allegations, issued a further statement via spokesperson Brig-Gen Effie Defrin. Defrin noted the film's promotional material presented "serious and false allegations" and invited the filmmakers to allow IDF representatives to view the film in full to address the claims on their merits.
Other Israeli politicians have also voiced criticism, including former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who labeled the documentary a "horrific blood libel," and former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, who called the directors "haters of Israel."
However, over 700 members of the film industry signed a petition supporting the filmmakers, denouncing what they called a "campaign of incitement and vilification." Israeli actor and screenwriter Shlomi Elkabetz told Israel's N12 channel that the questions raised in the film "must be examined, not silenced."
Abraham and Szor previously won an Oscar for "No Other Land," a documentary about violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. IMAGE3:
