Israeli Authorities Demand Prosecution of Participants in the Documentary Film 'NAZA'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the country's attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet security service to disclose the identities of the officers who gave interviews in the award-winning film NAZA. Netanyahu demands that the Oscar-winning directors, Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, be held accountable for causing "harm to Israel's diplomatic and defense interests." He urged Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Chief of Staff of the IDF Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, and Shin Bet head David Zini to "immediately identify all those involved in this defamatory film or appearing in it." NAZA, which premiered in Venice and received a special jury prize, is currently showing in theaters in over 50 countries and, according to the official synopsis, "provides a detailed account of the systems behind the calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza." The film was secretly shot at night on the rooftops of Tel Aviv during the ongoing war in Gaza; it includes interviews with 24 Israeli military intelligence officers, soldiers, and informants. They describe how targets are selected among Palestinians and how strikes are carried out using artificial intelligence systems and automated surveillance in military targeting complexes, despite Israel's knowledge of the presence of civilians in the strike areas. The faces and voices of the participants were digitally altered to conceal their identities. This 80-minute impactful documentary is based on investigations from 2023 to 2025 published by the Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine, the Hebrew publication Local Call, and the British newspaper The Guardian. The film received a record 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival, the longest in the festival's history. The Israeli government had previously attacked Abraham and Szor, threatening to strip them of their citizenship. According to The Guardian, Ricardo Gutiérrez, the general secretary of the European Federation of Journalists, stated: "These threats are an outrageous act of intimidation against journalists who were merely doing their job in strict accordance with ethical standards and in the public interest." Commenting on Netanyahu's threats, he added: "I am not surprised by this outburst; it confirms that this regime is willing to do anything to hide its crimes against humanity and the ongoing genocide in Gaza."