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Israel’s culture minister has sparked widespread controversy by demanding that the government strip the citizenship of two Oscar-winning Israeli documentarians, alleging they committed treason with their latest film detailing military operations in the Gaza Strip. The harsh denunciation targets directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor following the international unveiling of their new investigative documentary, which accuses Israeli forces of orchestrating widespread civilian deaths.
Culture Minister Miki Zohar directed his demands to the Interior Ministry, requesting that state authorities formally investigate the circumstances surrounding the production. In his public remarks on social media, Zohar urged investigators to examine how sensitive operational materials were obtained, identify the parties backing the project, and determine whether the release of such information constitutes aiding the enemy during a time of active warfare.
In his correspondence with ministry officials, Zohar firmly rejected the film’s portrayal of military personnel and state institutions as perpetrators of premeditated offenses. He cited Israel's Citizenship Law, pointing to legal mechanisms that permit the state to revoke an individual’s citizenship in cases involving a breach of allegiance. While such legal measures remain on the books, authorities have historically enacted them on very rare occasions.
The documentary at the center of the dispute is titled *Naza*, taking its name from the Hebrew military acronym used to denote collateral damage. Spanning 80 minutes and produced in collaboration with Britain’s Guardian newspaper, the project has quickly become a flashpoint for intense political and cultural debate within Israel and abroad.
At the core of the film are interviews with 24 unidentified Israeli intelligence and military personnel. These whistleblowers provide inside accounts outlining the artificial intelligence systems utilized by the armed forces to coordinate targeting and bombardment strategies across the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of hostilities in late 2023.
According to promotional synopses released by the filmmakers, the documentary seeks to demonstrate how technological and operational frameworks enabled calculated mass casualties among Palestinian civilians. In one of the film's most striking claims, an anonymous interviewee asserts that military leadership authorized a strike projected to kill approximately 500 individuals in order to eliminate a single target—an allegation military authorities have firmly denied as entirely untrue.
The broader conflict was ignited following the cross-border attack led by Hamas on October 7, 2023, during which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 251 individuals were seized as hostages. In the ensuing military campaign launched by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), more than 73,000 Palestinians, including over 20,000 children, have lost their lives according to the health ministry in Gaza, data that the United Nations evaluates as reliable.
Abraham and Szor arrived at their latest project with significant international acclaim, having won an Academy Award last year for *No Other Land*, an earlier documentary examining violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank. While the directing duo did not issue an immediate direct response to Zohar’s punitive calls, they have consistently defended their investigative rigor.
The documentary made its international debut at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where it received an enthusiastic 25-minute standing ovation from attendees and was awarded the festival’s prestigious Special Jury Award. Despite this reception, the completed 80-minute feature has not yet been distributed for general public viewing.
Addressing the media around the festival, Abraham emphasized that the project’s reporting was rigorous and grounded in direct accounts from state insiders. He argued that attempts to undermine the film amounted to an unwillingness to confront the reality of a campaign that has resulted predominantly in civilian casualties, maintaining that these outcomes reflect deeply ingrained systemic processes rather than isolated battlefield errors.
The Israeli military has strongly disputed the documentary’s representations. IDF spokesperson Brigadier-General Effie Defrin stated that although the full feature has yet to be publicly circulated, the excerpts and promotional materials present a misleading and inaccurate depiction of military operations and service personnel.
In his formal response, Defrin invited the filmmakers to screen the full documentary for IDF representatives. The spokesperson maintained that providing military leadership with access to the entire film would allow the army to evaluate and substantively address each individual claim on its factual merits, moving the discourse away from what the military described as distorted characterizations.
Political backlash against the filmmakers extended beyond the culture minister. Prominent figures across the Israeli political spectrum joined in condemning the work; former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett denounced the production as a grave and defamatory attack against the nation's service members, while former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman openly described the Oscar-winning directors as adversaries of the state.
Conversely, a significant portion of the arts community mobilized to defend the co-directors against official retribution. More than 700 film industry professionals endorsed an open petition warning that the filmmakers were facing an aggressive smear campaign and persistent incitement from political figures.
Backing the project, Israeli screenwriter and actor Shlomi Elkabetz stated in a broadcast on Israel's Channel 12 that the severe institutional questions raised by the documentary must be thoroughly analyzed and confronted, rather than silenced through political pressure. As the documentary awaits wider release, the clash over *Naza* underscores deepening divisions surrounding war accountability, artistic freedom, and state loyalty.
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