Netanyahu demands investigation into anonymous whistleblowers in "NAZA" documentary, focus of AI targeted killing controversy shifts to witnesses

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly demanded on Sunday an investigation into the anonymous military whistleblowers cited in the documentary "NAZA," which won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival last month. According to France 24's Jerusalem correspondent Noga Tanopolsky, Netanyahu's statement shifted the focus away from the core allegations that the Israeli army caused large numbers of civilian deaths in Gaza through the use of AI targeting systems, and toward the legitimacy of the source of the whistleblowing itself.

"NAZA" won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month. The film is based on testimony from 24 anonymous Israeli military insiders who accuse the Israel Defense Forces of carrying out strikes through AI-assisted targeting systems during the Gaza war, causing large numbers of civilian deaths. The specific operational mechanisms, decision chains, and actual casualty scale of the AI targeting system described in the film currently lack independent verification.

According to existing France 24 reports, the specific scope, authorizing body, and legal basis for the "investigation" demanded by Netanyahu have not been specified; beyond the prime minister's public statement, the Israeli military's formal response to the core allegations in the documentary has also not been mentioned.

The testimony of the 24 anonymous military whistleblowers points to the Israel Defense Forces' practice of AI-targeted strikes in Gaza. When a national government directs its primary investigative focus at the source of whistleblowing rather than the killing operations it alleges, what is deferred from public scrutiny is the boundaries and costs of this combat practice under the empowerment of new technology.