From the Guardian · · 1m 50s
Israel's culture minister wants two film-makers stripped of citizenship
A Venice prize for a Gaza documentary turned into a government call to revoke its Israeli directors' nationality.
In brief
A Venice prize for a Gaza documentary turned into a government call to revoke its Israeli directors' nationality. Two Israeli directors documented their own state's targeting of civilians in Gaza, and ministers responded by threatening their citizenship rather than answering the testimony. Originally reported by the…
A minister calls it treason
Israel's culture minister Miki Zohar demanded that the Oscar-winning directors of NAZA lose their Israeli citizenship, accusing them of treason for a documentary about the mass killing of civilians in Gaza.
“I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for treason against the state”
What NAZA actually means
The film takes its name from an acronym Israeli intelligence uses for the number of civilians it expects to kill in a single airstrike on Gaza. Produced by the Guardian.
Twenty-four whistleblowers talked
Israeli military and intelligence sources described AI-powered targeting systems used on Gaza. One says approval was given to kill 500 civilians to reach a single Hamas member.
A record ovation in Venice
The 80-minute film won a special jury prize at Venice on Saturday after a 25-minute standing ovation, the longest in the festival's history.
Other ministers pile on
National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told the directors to leave the country and said Hamas would welcome them. Abraham and Szor won an Oscar in 2025 for No Other Land.
“You are a disgrace and an embarrassment to the entire people of Israel. Go away!”
The law exists, barely used
Israel can revoke nationality for disloyalty, confirmed by the supreme court in 2022 and widened in 2023 to cover terrorism convictions. It needs the interior minister, the justice minister and judges to agree.
Abraham names his own privilege
After No Other Land, a rightwing mob targeted his family home. He points out that a Palestinian journalist in Gaza attempting the same reporting would most likely be killed.
“We're taking risks in a system that privileges us, that has Jewish-Israeli supremacy as its founding characteristic”
Here's the gist
Two Israeli directors documented their own state's targeting of civilians in Gaza, and ministers responded by threatening their citizenship rather than answering the testimony.
