Israel military weighs legal steps against Gaza documentary makers

Israel’s Chief of General Staff, Eyal Zamir, has instructed officials to examine criminal and legal steps against the production team of the documentary “NAZA”, which focuses on testimonies from soldiers and intelligence personnel who served in Gaza operations.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu targeted the production, describing it as “unacceptable”, more than 200 Israeli filmmakers published a joint statement backing the directors.

Maintaining that the documentary slandered the military, Chief of General Staff Zamir asserted that the work had no intention of uncovering the truth.

“In light of the available data, this production is not a work that constructively criticises the military,” Zamir said. “On the contrary, it relies on blood libels, a deliberate distortion of the reality on the ground, and baseless accusations directed at our soldiers and commanders.”

Zamir further claimed that the military was presented as an entity acting unlawfully and that the arguments of anti-Israel circles were adapted for the film.

The Israeli military is establishing a new multidisciplinary, inter-agency working group involving domestic and international experts to counter such allegations.

Meanwhile, the military’s most senior legal official, Itai Ofir, is reviewing the legal procedures that could be initiated against the documentary’s producers.

The military leadership contends that the testimonies lack credibility because the identities, ranks, and operational details of the personnel interviewed in the film were concealed.

Rejecting the assertion that targets were selected by artificial intelligence, military officials stated that all strikes and target approvals were decided by human hands within the framework of military directives.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the production in a video message shared on Telegram.

“This situation is appalling,” Netanyahu said, voicing his reaction. “While resisting antisemitic incitement conducted globally, it is unacceptable for a similar approach to arise from within ourselves. Two Israeli directors presenting the Israeli military as war criminals are being applauded at the Venice Film Festival.”

The 80-minute production was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival and received a 25-minute standing ovation in the auditorium at the end of the screening.

In reactions emerging from the cabinet, Minister of Culture and Sports Miki Zohar accused directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of “high treason”.

“The self-hatred displayed by these producers, who risk harming their own country to win the praise of antisemitic circles worldwide, is beyond comprehension,” Zohar said. Announcing that he would launch an initiative to revoke the directors’ citizenship, Zohar stated that direct accusations of treason could be brought against the individuals.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also addressed the directors, stating: “You are a source of shame for the entire people of Israel. Get out of here.” Under current Israeli legislation, the culture minister does not have the authority to unilaterally revoke citizenship; decisions in this direction can be made only as a result of legal processes involving the Ministry of Interior and judicial bodies.

Following the mounting backlash, more than 200 Israeli filmmakers, including Ari Folman, Shlomi Elkabetz, Ran Tal, and Michal Aviad, signed a joint declaration of solidarity. The text emphasised that “the primary duty of art and the profession of journalism is to hold up a mirror to the society from which it arises.”

Produced in partnership with The Guardian and JW Films, “NAZA” conveys testimonies from 24 military and intelligence personnel whose identities were kept concealed and who took part in surveillance, targeting, and air strike decisions in Gaza.

Deriving its name from a Hebrew military acronym that designates the number of civilians expected to lose their lives during an operation and corresponds to the concept of “collateral damage”, the film documents that targets were determined using artificial intelligence and mass surveillance networks.

Describing high-tech weaponry and AI-assisted targeting mechanisms, one interviewed soldier made the comparison: “Because everything runs on remote control, the process resembles a video game.”

Another soldier described the deaths on the ground as “unbelievably fun”.

Director Yuval Abraham said: “The intelligence personnel we interviewed stated that the mass deaths were not an accident, but on the contrary rested upon a designed and systematic choice.”

Abraham and Szor stated that the production did not scrutinise individual soldier violations, but directly examined the institutional chain of command and operational doctrines.

The two directors had previously made the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land”, which addressed the displacement of Palestinians and settler violence in the occupied West Bank, alongside Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal.

While the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the number of Palestinians who have lost their lives in the attacks exceeded 73,700, the actual death toll is projected to be far above this figure due to destroyed healthcare infrastructure and casualties lost beneath the rubble.