Being critical of your own country can come at a steep price. This is the dilemma confronting filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, whose documentary ‘Naza’ premiered last weekend at the Venice International Film Festival. The feature-length film reveals an exceedingly harsh view of the current war in Gaza, told from the perspectives of Israeli soldiers, Palestinian journalists, and countless individuals enduring what may be the worst moment of their lives.
The filmmakers’ aim is direct: they push a harsh critique of the Israeli government, yes, but what they primarily want is for Israeli citizens to watch the documentary and become aware of the acts that are carried out in the name of their country. Over its eighty-minute runtime, the documentary grapples with the slaughter of Palestinian civilians through the dehumanization of the victims. Abraham highlighted in Venice that he hopes it will also reach audiences in the United States, since he believes that his government finances “a large part of these massacres.”
Critique of the Government
The response from politicians did not take long to arrive. Miki Zohar, Israel’s Minister of Culture, has voiced his opinion on social media, and he has a clear plan for what should come next. “The self-destructive, fiery hatred of these creators, who are willing to harm their homeland to receive applause from the world’s antisemites, is unimaginable and constitutes a betrayal of the country,” he asserted. “As Minister of Culture, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these vile creators for treason to the country.”
The motion did not come from him alone. The former prime minister Naftali Bennett also attacked the two filmmakers, labeling the work as “a cowardly and bloody defamation.” Although he is no longer part of the government, he assured on social media that he would not stay silent in the face of the accusations surrounding ‘NAZA’, which could be interpreted as a stance aligned with the intentions voiced by Zohar.
Known Dangers
Classifying critiques of the country as antisemitic is neither new in Hollywood nor beyond its borders. Nor is this the first collaboration for Abraham and Szor, who previously worked on ‘No Other Land’ in 2024 and faced government backlash for “damaging the good name of Israel” in times of war. The feature went on to win the Academy Award for Best Documentary, but it was not officially distributed in the United States.
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