Gaza documentary 'NAZA' sparks political firestorm in Israel

In southern Israel, a mural appeared depicting the filmmakers of an award-winning documentary titled NAZA. Instead of paying tribute, the mural featured red targets next to the faces of the Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, with the word "TRAITORS" branded across them. This was not a celebration but a storm of political turmoil as the documentary questioned Israel's widespread killing of civilians in Gaza.

A month before crucial elections, the film's release ignited a wave of threats and intimidation targeting the filmmakers and their families. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even threatened to introduce legislation that could revoke citizenship for those deemed to defame Israeli soldiers. Szor's parents received an unsettling visit from dozens of protesters, organized by a far-right supporter of the National Security Minister.

The filmmaker's hometown of Savyon was besieged, with the far-right influencer, Mordechai David, vowing that this was only the beginning. Elsewhere, in Ashdod, the mural artist Dudi Shuval expressed zero sympathy for the pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The intense backlash at the film exposed the growing nationalist sentiment following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which claimed 1,221 lives.

Netanyahu's response to the attack is crucial for the upcoming election on October 27. NAZA, which names a euphemism used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the expected number of civilian casualties in an airstrike, received a record-breaking 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival and later won the special jury prize.

The documentary's allegations were based on testimonies from 24 Israeli military or intelligence whistleblowers who wished to remain anonymous. The Israeli military vehemently denied the claims in the film, insisting they take every measure to minimize civilian casualties. They also criticized the film's use of anonymous sources, claiming their identities and military involvement in Gaza cannot be verified.

Almost all Israeli political figures have condemned the documentary. Opposition politician Gadi Eisenkot, now seen as a strong challenger to Netanyahu, denounced "moral blindness, detachment from reality, and harm to the State of Israel" in a difficult time. The head of the center-left Democrats party, Yair Golan, also condemned the documentary the following day, accusing Netanyahu of deflecting attention from his handling of the October 7 incident.

In Israel, criticizing the military, which nearly all citizens serve, is strictly taboo and carries severe consequences. Abraham, one of the filmmakers, told AFP, "There's clearly an intention not to have a discussion about the crimes that were committed and to prevent people from speaking about them." Despite the controversy, the Israeli-Palestinian movement Standing Together praised the film for exposing another chapter in the "war of annihilation in Gaza."

The Union of Journalists in Israel denounced the threats against the filmmakers, stating that without freedom of expression, there is no democracy. Culture Minister Miki Zohar referred the matter to the domestic intelligence services to demand a probe into the film's anonymous sources. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has resulted in over 73,700 deaths, according to the territory's health ministry, figures considered reliable by the United Nations.