Israeli Culture Minister Calls for Stripping Filmmakers' Citizenship After Venice Award for Gaza Film

Israel's Culture Minister Miki Zohar has called on state authorities to strip the citizenship of Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor following the international unveiling of their latest documentary, which levies severe accusations against the nation's armed forces. Zohar characterized the directors' work as an act of treason against the state, triggering an escalating confrontation between government officials and members of the country's cultural sector.

The controversy centers around the 80-minute documentary titled *Naza*, a project produced by the British newspaper The Guardian. The title of the film is derived from a Hebrew military acronym used to designate collateral damage. The documentary focuses on the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, examining the operational conduct and high-tech targeting mechanisms employed during the military campaign.

In a public statement shared on the social media platform X, Zohar disclosed that he had formally petitioned law enforcement and relevant authorities to initiate an inquiry into the production. The minister urged investigators to determine the exact methods by which the filmmakers acquired their material, identify all entities backing the effort, and establish whether the gathering or dissemination of such records constitutes aiding enemy forces during an active armed conflict.

Furthermore, Zohar sent an official communication to Israel's Interior Ministry pressing for punitive citizenship measures. In the letter, the culture minister vehemently dismissed the documentary's allegations, calling them inaccurate and distorted representations designed to depict the state and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel as intentional perpetrators of war crimes. He referenced provisions in Israel's Citizenship Law that permit the revocation of citizenship on grounds of a breach of allegiance, an extraordinary sanction that has historically been invoked only on rare occasions.

The documentary itself relies heavily on firsthand accounts provided by 24 anonymous Israeli military and intelligence personnel. These insiders detail the deployment of artificial-intelligence-driven targeting systems utilized to orchestrate aerial strikes and artillery bombardments throughout Gaza following the outbreak of hostilities.

According to the documentary's official synopsis, the film exposes the systematic framework underpinning what it describes as the calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians during military operations. Among the most contentious disclosures in the film is a witness account describing an operational authorization where a strike anticipated to cause 500 casualties was allegedly sanctioned in pursuit of a single individual target—a specific claim the Israeli military has denounced as entirely false.

The conflict examined in the documentary was ignited by the Hamas-led assault on Israel on October 7, 2023, during which approximately 1,200 people were killed and 251 individuals were abducted as hostages. In the ensuing military response by the IDF, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including over 20,000 children, according to figures released by the territory's Hamas-administered health ministry. These casualty numbers have been recognized as reliable by the United Nations.

*Naza* made its international debut at the Venice International Film Festival, where it received significant acclaim from festival audiences, marked by a 25-minute standing ovation during its screening. The film was ultimately awarded the festival's prestigious Special Jury Prize. Despite its high-profile festival run, the documentary has not yet been released for general public viewing.

Neither Abraham nor Szor issued an immediate response to Zohar's demand for citizenship revocation. However, speaking around the festival's conclusion, Abraham mounted a strong defense of the project's journalistic foundations. He emphasized that the reporting carried out for the documentary had been exceptionally rigorous, asserting that political efforts to discredit the findings were fundamentally driven by an unwillingness to confront uncomfortable wartime realities.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Abraham argued that the military campaign has primarily resulted in civilian deaths, stressing that the documentary provides definitive evidence that the high civilian toll is systemic rather than accidental. He stated that the production aimed to bring this reality to light through direct testimonies originating from within the Israeli security apparatus itself.

Abraham and Szor previously achieved major international cinematic recognition last year, winning an Academy Award for their acclaimed documentary *No Other Land*, which chronicled violence perpetrated by Jewish settlers against Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military has maintained a firm stance against the documentary's narrative. While the IDF initially issued a blanket categorical rejection of the allegations, military spokesperson Brigadier-General Effie Defrin later offered an updated statement. Defrin noted that while the full film remains unreleased to the public, the promotional previews present serious and groundless accusations against military personnel. He formally invited the directors to screen the complete film for IDF representatives to facilitate a substantive, fact-based evaluation of each specific claim.

The documentary has drawn fierce criticism from prominent figures across the Israeli political spectrum. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett condemned the documentary, describing its allegations as a horrific blood libel targeting Israeli soldiers. In separate remarks echoing that hostility, former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced the award-winning filmmakers as haters of Israel.

Conversely, the filmmakers have garnered notable backing within the creative community. More than 700 film industry figures endorsed a joint petition expressing solidarity with Abraham and Szor, warning that the directors have become targets of an orchestrated campaign of incitement and public vilification.

Defenders of the documentary have argued against suppressing critical examination of military practices. In an interview broadcast on Israel's N12 television channel, Israeli actor and screenwriter Shlomi Elkabetz addressed the unfolding dispute, insisting that the critical questions raised by the documentary regarding the nation's military conduct demand thorough inspection and debate rather than censorship and political retaliation.