IDF blasts accusations made in ‘NAZA,’ minister threatens to strip filmmakers of citizenship

Culture Minister Miki Zohar pushes for filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor to be stripped of their citizenship over Gaza documentary.

By World Israel News Staff

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar said Sunday that he would seek to revoke the Israeli citizenship of filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after their documentary NAZA, which presents controversial accusations against the IDF over its conduct in Gaza, won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival.

“The Venice Film Festival win for the vile film NAZA is horrifying,” Zohar wrote, accusing the filmmakers of seeking international approval by damaging Israel. He said he would “act immediately” to pursue the revocation of their citizenship, describing their work as “treason against the state.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined the attack on the directors, writing: “You are a disgrace and an embarrassment to the entire people of Israel. Go away!”

Zohar does not, however, possess the legal authority to revoke citizenship.

Israeli law permits citizenship to be withdrawn in narrowly defined circumstances involving a “breach of allegiance,” including terrorism, treason and serious espionage, but the process is handled through the Interior Ministry and the courts.

The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the provision in 2022 while emphasizing that it was intended for exceptional cases.

The controversy started after NAZA took the Special Jury Prize Saturday at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.

The documentary, directed by Abraham and Szor, centers around anonymous interviews with 24 current or former Israeli intelligence personnel and soldiers and argues that large numbers of civilian casualties were knowingly accepted in the targeting process during the Gaza war.

The film received a roughly 25-minute standing ovation following its premiere, reportedly the longest of this year’s festival, before going on to receive the jury award.

Abraham used the awards ceremony to defend the film and argue that public exposure of the alleged conduct described by its sources was necessary.

“The Israeli intelligence officers we spoke with talked to us about how this mass killing is systemic, not by accident, but by design,” he said.

“We believe that the denial of a crime is what helps it persist.”

At a Venice press conference before the award was announced, Abraham said the filmmakers felt a particular obligation as Israelis to obtain testimony from inside the military and intelligence establishment.

“We felt a responsibility as Israelis to use our position,” he said, explaining that the film sought to show how the targeting system operated from within.

NAZA — a Hebrew military abbreviation referring to anticipated collateral damage — presents testimony alleging that civilian casualties were incorporated into strike calculations and that automated intelligence and artificial-intelligence systems played a significant role in generating targets.

One of the documentary’s most explosive claims comes from an unidentified source who says that authorization was once granted for a strike in which as many as 500 civilians were expected to be killed while targeting a Hamas operative.

The IDF categorically denied that allegation.

“The IDF has never planned, approved, or carried out a strike in Gaza” with an anticipated civilian toll approaching 500, the military said, calling the claim “completely false.”

The Israeli military panned the documentary, noting that the filmmakers relied heavily on anonymous witnesses whose identities, military service and involvement in the events discussed could not independently be verified.

“The IDF categorically rejects these allegations,” the military said.

The IDF said some statements attributed to junior personnel concerned decisions that would have been outside their areas of knowledge, while other testimony contained what the military called “internal and absurd contradictions.”

It also disputed one of the central themes surrounding the documentary — the suggestion that artificial intelligence effectively decides which targets will be attacked.

“Decisions regarding the selection and approval of strikes in the IDF are made by human personnel only,” the military said, adding that AI does not make those decisions.

The IDF said it operates in Gaza against Hamas and other terrorist organizations in accordance with international law and makes extensive efforts to limit civilian casualties. It also accused Hamas of deliberately operating from civilian areas and embedding military infrastructure among the population.

The military further said that alleged violations by individual soldiers can and should be reported through official channels, where they can be investigated by Israel’s enforcement mechanisms.

Zohar has previously clashed with Israel’s film industry over productions that portray the country or the IDF unfairly, and has promoted changes to state cinema funding intended to prevent public money from supporting works he considers hostile to Israel.

While Israeli law does provide a mechanism for stripping citizenship in cases of serious disloyalty, past proceedings have generally involved people convicted of terrorism, assisting an enemy or comparable national-security offenses.

As recently as July, state prosecutors sought citizenship revocation for two security prisoners convicted of offenses that included conspiring to aid Hamas during wartime.