Photo: UK Government / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a sweeping investigation into anonymous soldiers and intelligence personnel who appeared in the documentary NAZA, demanding that they be identified and prosecuted for alleged security offences, criminal libel and harm to Israel’s diplomatic and security interests.
In a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet head David Zini and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, Netanyahu said the film presents a “false, misleading and biased” narrative that defames Israel and the military internationally. He called for urgent action to uncover everyone involved in the film.
What the film alleges
NAZA takes its name from an Israeli military acronym for expected civilian casualties — collateral damage — in air strikes. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, it draws on testimony from 24 digitally masked people the directors say are soldiers, many from intelligence units.
The whistleblowers accuse the army of using artificial intelligence-assisted targeting systems in ways that killed large numbers of civilians in Gaza. The film won a special jury prize at the Venice International Film Festival and drew a lengthy standing ovation. Abraham and Szor have not returned to Israel amid threats and accusations of treason.
Military rejection and political storm
The Israeli military has categorically rejected the allegations, calling some assertions absurd and insisting that strike selection and approval are made by human personnel under its guidelines. Zamir has separately ordered an inquiry into suspected leaks of classified information used in the film’s production.
Netanyahu and Culture Minister Miki Zohar have threatened to revoke the directors’ citizenship. The government has also backed a counter-film, NAZA: The Real Story, whose creators received certificates from public diplomacy chief Tzipi Hotovely. Forty-three Israeli rights groups have defended the original filmmakers, according to Channel 12.
The film spins a false, misleading, and biased narrative that slanders the State of Israel and the IDF globally and severely damages Israel’s standing.
Benjamin Netanyahu, in his letter to security and legal chiefs
Why it matters now
The demand lands weeks before Israel’s election on 27 October. Press freedom groups including Reporters Without Borders have condemned attacks on the film’s team as part of a wider pressure campaign on media. Rival Gadi Eisenkot has also criticised the documentary, underlining how Gaza accountability has become a campaign issue.
If prosecutors move against anonymous sources, it will test how far Israel’s legal system will go to punish whistleblowing about wartime conduct. Screenings are expanding abroad — including planned Australian cinema dates — while the filmmakers say they want the work freely available online. Gaza’s health ministry says more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks that killed about 1,139 people in Israel.
