Israel Moves to Revoke NAZA Creators’ Citizenship
Image: LucaFazPhoto, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
By: Connor J. Buss / Arab America Contributing Writer
Israeli Filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor received a 25-minute long standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival on September 10. The prior record was for The Voice of Hind Rajab at last year’s festival, at 24 minutes. Normally, creators would smile and celebrate such an achievement, but Abraham and Szor were solemn and still. This is because their film, NAZA, was a gruesome documentary depicting the Gaza genocide.
NAZA is a military acronym used by the Israeli Defense Force to indicate the number of civilians expected to be killed in an airstrike as collateral damage. The film consists of 24 interviews with anonymous IDF soldiers and officers. In these interviews, military personnel reveal actions the IDF has taken. One describes hacking into the phone of a 12-year-old girl to identify when her father comes home, and ordering a bombing that kills the whole family. Another describes snipers killing Palestinian civilians as they reach a food distribution center.
Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza have killed over 73,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
Backlash
Immediately following the film’s release, Israeli officials responded with intense backlash. Israeli Minister of Culture Miki Zohar said that he is moving to revoke the citizenship of Abraham and Szor after they won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice International Film Festival. He called the film “shocking” and accused the filmmakers of a “betrayal of the state.”
“The self-loathing that burns in the creators, who are willing to harm their homeland just to get applause from anti-semites around the world, is inconceivable,” Zohar said Sunday in a post on social media, adding that he would “act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of” both filmmakers.
Zohar sent a request to the Israeli interior ministry to revoke the citizenship of NAZA creators’ Abraham and Szor on account of “treason.” The interior ministry has not made an official statement yet. In a post, Zohar claimed he “contacted the Director General of the Population Authority and the Director General of the Ministry of Interior to examine the denial of Israeli citizenship for breach of trust for the country,”
Zohar requested an investigation “to examine how the materials were obtained.”
Eyal Zamir, Israel’s military chief, made similar claims.
“Based on what has been published thus far, this is not a film offering criticism of the IDF, nor is it an attempt to establish the truth. It is based on blood libels, deliberate distortions of reality, and grave, false accusations against IDF soldiers and commanders,” Zamir said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the film antisemitic.
“It’s shocking. We are fighting global antisemitic incitement and when it comes from within us it is intolerable,” Netanyahu said in a video posted on Telegram. “And now two Israeli directors portraying the IDF as war criminals receive applause at the Venice festival.”
No Other Land
This is not the first time Abraham and Szor have received backlash for a film. In October 2024, the two debuted as directors with No Other Land, an Oscar-winning documentary they made alongside two Palestinian directors. The film follows the forced displacement of communities in Masafer Yatta, a region in the occupied West Bank. Following the film’s release, Abraham and Szor received criticism from Israeli officials after winning an Oscar in 2025.
“You are a disgrace and an embarrassment to the entire people of Israel. Go away!” far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on X. “I am certain that your friends, that is to say our enemies Hamas in Gaza, will welcome you with open arms.”
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