On Sunday evening, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked three of Israel's most senior officials to open a comprehensive investigation into the people who appeared in a documentary about the war in Gaza. He addressed the request to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) Director David Zini and Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara. The Jerusalem Post reported that it came in a letter released by the Prime Minister's Office.
Netanyahu wants the participants charged on three grounds. The first is serious breaches of information security. The second is criminal defamation. The third is harm to Israel's diplomatic and security interests.
He opened the letter by arguing that the film "spins a false, misleading, and biased narrative" that damages Israel and the IDF around the world and does serious harm to the country's international standing.
i24NEWS reported that the documentary was directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor and looks at Israeli intelligence and targeting methods during the Gaza war. Both i24NEWS and The Jerusalem Post give the film's title as NAZA, a Hebrew acronym for "collateral damage." It is built on the anonymous accounts of 24 people, who are described as Israeli soldiers and intelligence personnel. Among their claims are allegations about artificial intelligence being used in targeting and the effects on civilians. NAZA premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September and won the special jury prize.
The IDF denies the film's allegations and challenges its description of how strikes are approved. The military says targeting decisions are made by people. The filmmakers say the anonymous testimonies were vetted.
A counter-film has also been released. Three Israeli creators, Roy Danino, Hagai Gutman and Ariel Orbuch, made NAZA: The Real Story as an explicit rebuttal of the original film's anonymous whistleblower claims. It was released with English subtitles.
On Thursday, the Prime Minister's Office announced that Tzipi Hotovely, head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate, had given the counter-film's creators certificates of appreciation. The PMO said the production "features testimonies from soldiers, refutes the blood libels against IDF soldiers and commanders, thereby defending our soldiers and the State of Israel."
