Haaretz: Israelis unite against a new enemy: ‘NAZA,’ a film no one has seen
Like the vast majority of Israelis, I have not yet watched the film, because it is unavailable in Israel. While its evidence may be extraordinary, the Israeli response to it is very ordinary. Every time a film exposes Israel’s actions against Palestinians – from the daily realities of occupation in the West Bank to a genocidal war in Gaza – the Israeli mainstream erupts in outrage, casting itself as the victim of “blood libels.”
Mainstream coverage of “NAZA” in Israel has centered on the IDF’s denial of the film’s allegations, with panelists issuing the same old warnings about damage to Israel’s image abroad. The allegations themselves receive no attention.
“NAZA” has nevertheless offered Israelis a rare moment of unity. When Netanyahu’s Culture Minister, Miki Zohar – who would rather be a commissar – vowed to revoke the filmmakers’ citizenship, left-wing actor Yossi Marshak rebuked him for spoiling it: “Why are you ruining this? Finally, we’ve managed to unite for one minute.”Six weeks before the election, this unity has revealed a divide in Israeli society that runs far deeper than the split over Netanyahu.
Many in the anti-Netanyahu bloc fiercely deny the massacres of Palestinians in Gaza that have taken place since the October 7 attack. At the same time, many in the pro-Netanyahu bloc are comfortable with them, with leaders of that bloc touting in real time the “annihilation” of Gaza. Together, they form a broad mainstream united in rejecting any reckoning with Israel’s actions in Gaza. All that faces them is a tiny minority that acknowledges the mass killings and refuses to move on.
This moment of unity also shines a spotlight on the conspiracy of silence that has engulfed this country over what it did in Gaza. The response to the film exposes a tradition, stretching back to Israel’s founding, of concealing violence against Palestinians, whether in wartime or quieter times.
Don’t hold your breath for a national reckoning over the destruction of Gaza. Just ask how many Israelis know what the Nakba actually is.
Almost three years after October 7, Israelis remain trapped in the trauma and horror of that day, unwilling to confront what their own country has inflicted in response. By crying “distortions” over a film like “NAZA,” Netanyahu and his rivals actively distort the reality of the conflict that has shaped Israelis’ lives, both before October 7 and ever since. The question now goes well beyond how long a society can deny its own massacre of tens of thousands of innocent people: it is what kind of society that denial leaves behind.
Hollywood Reporter:
Israeli Army Chief Orders Legal Review of ‘NAZA’ Documentary
The chief of staff at the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has ordered a legal review of the documentary NAZA to assess the possibility of legal action against its filmmakers and those involved with it.
Calling the film “an attack on the State of Israel,” IDF chief Eyal Zamir claimed NAZA defamed the military, though he acknowledged he has not seen the movie in full. He separately ordered an investigation into the leaking of classified material used in its production.
Directed by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor (No Other Land), NAZA is an exposé featuring testimony for 24 former IDF soldiers and military personnel, who outline what they claim is the IDF’s systematic killing of civilians in Gaza. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival where, on Saturday, it won the Grand Jury Prize. The movie’s title is an acronym used by the Israeli military meaning “collateral damage.”
Comparing the claims made in the film to “blood libels,” Zamir said the Israeli military would use “every tool at our disposal” against it.
Writing on X, IDF Spokesperson Effie Defrin called on Abraham and Szor to allow army representatives to view the full film “so that we can address each of the claims raised in it objectively.”
NAZA was produced by Guardian News and Media, the company that also publishes British newspaper The Guardian. In a statement to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, a spokesman for the group said it was “disturbed to see the authoritarian response” to the film in Israel and defended the film, saying it was “based on more than three years of investigative journalism…The testimonies it contains are true and we believe they deserve to be heard.” The company said would “robustly defend NAZA – and the team behind it – from any attacks or attempts at censorship.”
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