Netanyahu pressures documentary questioning Gaza civilian deaths: threatens directors with treason and citizenship revocation, demands pursuit of anonymous whistleblowers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently demanded that the Chief of Staff, the head of Shin Bet, and the Attorney General launch a comprehensive investigation into the participants in the documentary NAZA and prosecute them on charges of severe information security violations, criminal defamation, and damage to Israel's diplomatic and security interests. According to Al Jazeera, this is the latest heavy-handed move by the Israeli government against the documentary, which discloses accusations that the Israeli military's AI targeting system caused civilian deaths in Gaza.

Netanyahu wrote on the X platform: "I demand that the Chief of Staff, the head of Shin Bet, and the Attorney General launch a comprehensive investigation into the participants in the film NAZA and prosecute them for severe information security violations, criminal defamation, and damage to Israel's diplomatic and security interests." He also alleged that the film presents "false, misleading, and biased narratives that defame the State of Israel and the Israeli military internationally and severely damage Israel's image."

NAZA's title is taken from a term used by the Israeli military to describe expected civilian casualties in airstrikes, an abbreviation of the Hebrew phrase for "collateral damage." Based on testimony from 24 anonymous Israeli military whistleblowers, the film accuses the Israeli military of using an artificial intelligence targeting system to kill large numbers of civilians in Gaza. The film won a Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival and received a historic 25-minute standing ovation, becoming one of the most-watched political documentaries at the festival.

Facing the political storm sparked by the film, the Israeli military issued a statement "categorically" rejecting the whistleblowers' accusations and characterizing some of the statements as "absurd" and self-contradictory. The Israeli military insists that target selection and approval is "carried out solely by human personnel" in accordance with military guidelines. The Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, has requested that legal action against participants be considered and has ordered an investigation into allegedly leaked classified military information during the film's production.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office also accused NAZA directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Shor of committing "treason," with Netanyahu and Culture Minister Miki Zohar threatening to revoke their Israeli citizenship. According to Israeli Channel 12, 43 Israeli human rights groups defended the film's producers and condemned the threats against them. Meanwhile, the head of national public diplomacy, Zipi Hotovely, last week awarded an honorary certificate to the creators of another counter-film, NAZA: The Real Story, in recognition of their "refutation" of the "blood libel" created by the original film.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, when Palestinian armed factions including Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, attacked southern Israel, killing approximately 1,139 people and taking around 240 captive. According to Gaza's Health Ministry, since then Israel has killed at least 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including at least 21,000 children.

The back-and-forth over the film reflects a systematic path of suppression by Israeli officials on the question of war accountability: whistleblowers are targeted as subjects of criminal investigation, directors are labeled with "treason" and face citizenship revocation threats, while the production of another "counter" film receives state-level honors. NAZA's core question—to what extent the Israeli military's AI system determines civilian deaths—is treated by the Israeli government, against the backdrop of war casualties on such a massive scale, as a "leak" to be prosecuted and erased, rather than a question that needs answering.