Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has threatened to revoke the citizenship of filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor after their documentary "NAZA" won a special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival. The film, which criticizes Israeli airstrikes that killed Palestinian civilians in Gaza, features interviews with 24 unnamed Israeli military and intelligence whistleblowers who discuss AI-powered targeting systems used during the conflict. Zohar accused the filmmakers of treason against Israel and expressed his intent to strip them of their citizenship, while also calling for an investigation into how they obtained their sources. The IDF denies deliberately targeting civilians, but more than 73,000 Palestinians, including over 20,000 children, have been killed in the ongoing conflict since October 2023 according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry figures.
Chief of the General Staff Eyal Zamir instructed the military prosecutor to “examine and advance possible legal measures concerning the film and those involved in it”, the military posted on social media.
The statement cited “the spread of false claims about soldiers of the Israeli army as well as possible implications for their personal safety and the security of the state”.
