Israel's culture minister, Miki Zohar, has threatened to revoke the citizenship of Oscar-winning filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor over their documentary "Naza," which accuses the Israeli army of mass civilian killings in Gaza. The film, released at the Venice Film Festival last week, features interviews with 24 unidentified former Israeli military personnel who discuss advanced targeting systems used during Israel's recent campaign against Hamas. Minister Zohar claims the allegations are false and requests an investigation into how the materials were obtained and whether they constitute aiding the enemy in wartime.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-14,
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same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
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.
Written for “Israeli Minister Attacks Gaza Film Team” on 2026-09-14,
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Israel's culture minister has called for the Oscar-winning Israeli co-directors of Naza, a documentary that accuses the Israeli army of mass civilian killings in Gaza, to be stripped of their citizenship over "treason against the state".
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that → call → state
Named for the Hebrew military acronym for collateral damage, the film speaks to 24 unidentified Israeli military and intelligence officers who outlined the AI-powered targeting systems used by the Israeli army to bombard Gaza in the war triggered by the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023.
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who → name → October
Since then, more than 73,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, have been killed in the campaign by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, figures considered reliable by the UN.
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Palestinians → include → UN
About 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage during the Hamas attack.
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251 → kill → attack
Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor say their 80-minute documentary "details the systems behind Israel's calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza" during the war, according to its official synopsis.
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documentary → say → synopsis
One of the people interviewed says there was the approval for an attack to kill 500 people for "one human target", an allegation the IDF said was "completely false".
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IDF → interview → target
In a post on X, Culture Minister Miki Zohar said he had asked the authorities "to investigate how the materials were obtained, who is behind them, and whether in the process of obtaining or publishing them, actions were taken that amount to aiding the enemy during wartime".
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that → say → wartime
In a letter addressed to Israel's Interior Ministry, he said: "The claims presented in the film are false and distorted, and I categorically reject the attempt to portray IDF soldiers and the State of Israel as perpetrators of intentional crimes."
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I → address → crimes
Zohar mentioned the country's Citizenship Law, saying it "allows for the revocation of citizenship due to a 'breach of allegiance to the State of Israel'".
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it → mention → Israel
The measure, however, has rarely been applied.
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measure → apply → ?
The filmmakers won an Oscar last year for No Other Land, a documentary about violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
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filmmakers → win → Bank
Naza premiered last Thursday at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a 25-minute standing ovation, but has not yet been made available to the wider public.
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it → premier → public
It won a special jury prize at the festival.
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It → win → festival
Speaking then, Abraham said the reporting for the film, which was produced by the UK's Guardian newspaper, had been "rigorous" and that efforts to discredit it were "attempts to not face reality".
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efforts → speak → reality
"It's a war that has principally been killing civilians.
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that → kill → civilians
And I think our film is showing that this is not some mistake.
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this → think → ?
And this should have been apparent to everyone, I think, from the start.
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I → think → start
But we are showing it from the inside, with insider testimony," he told the Associated Press in an interview.
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he → show → interview
The IDF, after initially saying it "categorically rejects [the] allegations", later issued a new statement via its spokesperson Brig-Gen Effie Defrin, saying: "The film 'Naza' has not yet been released in full.
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film → say → spokesperson
However, based on what can be seen in promotional material, it presents a series of serious and false allegations regarding the IDF and its personnel.
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it → base → IDF
"To enable a substantive, professional, and fact-based discussion, rather than one based on misleading portrayals, I invite the filmmakers to allow IDF representatives to view the film in full so that we can address each of the allegations it raises on merits."
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it → enable → merits
Other Israeli politicians have criticised the documentary, including former prime minister Naftali Bennett, who called it a "horrific blood libel against our sons and daughters", and former defence minister Avigdor Lieberman, who described the directors as "haters of Israel".
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who → criticise → Israel
But more than 700 members of the film industry signed a petition in support of the filmmakers, saying they were being subjected to a "campaign of incitement and vilification".
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they → sign → incitement
Speaking to Israel's N12 channel, Israeli actor and screenwriter Shlomi Elkabetz said: "These are questions [raised in the film] that must be examined, not silenced."
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that → speak → film
