{"id":627834,"date":"2026-09-26T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/627834\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T06:00:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T06:00:16","slug":"threats-against-naza-directors-must-stop-ida-tells-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/627834\/","title":{"rendered":"Threats Against ‘NAZA’ Directors Must Stop, IDA Tells Israel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe International Documentary Association<\/a> is coming to the defense of NAZA<\/a> filmmakers Yuval Abraham<\/a> and Rachel Szor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe nonprofit organization posted a letter to its website urging the Israeli government to stop what the IDA terms a \u201ccampaign of threats\u201d against the directors, whose film is sharply critical of Israel\u2019s conduct of the war in Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIDA calls on the Israeli government to withdraw its threats against filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor,\u201d the letter says. \u201cWe also call for an end to the public campaign of intimidation against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe letter continues, \u201cSince NAZA won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, senior Israeli officials have moved against its directors. The Culture Minister has accused them of treason and sought to revoke their citizenship. The Prime Minister has announced bills to revoke the citizenship of anyone who \u2018slanders IDF soldiers\u2019 and to raise defamation damages twentyfold.\u201d (Read the full letter form the IDA below).<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"'NAZA'\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\u2018NAZA\u2019<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Guardian\/mk2<\/p>\n

\n\tREAD: \u2018NAZA\u2019 Review: Israeli Military Accused Of Depraved Indifference To Palestinian Life, Using AI To Kill In Gaza \u2013 Venice Film Festival<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThe documentary, which holds its North American premiere Saturday at the New York Film Festival, is based on the account of 24 Israeli military intelligence officers and soldiers, who were interviewed at the height of Israeli military operations in Gaza. The military personnel, whose identities are concealed to protect their anonymity, describe callous disregard for Palestinian civilian life as the Israel Defense Forces pursued Hamas targets in the occupied territory. Whistleblowers allege the IDF set acceptable totals of civilian Palestinian deaths in attacks targeting suspected Hamas militants, in one case authorizing the killing of up to 500 civilians in pursuit of one target.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe IDF, as Deadline has reported<\/a>, has denied allegations in the film. The International Documentary Association writes, \u201cThe Israeli military disputes the film\u2019s account, and it is entitled to do so. But as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Israel is bound by Article 19, under which restrictions on expression must be provided by law and be necessary and proportionate to a legitimate aim. Revoking citizenship, imposing punitive damages, or opening security investigations in response to a documentary does not meet that test. The UN Human Rights Committee recognizes the protection of journalistic sources as part of freedom of expression, and the filmmakers\u2019 right not to disclose the identities of their sources must be upheld.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe letter has gained more than 250 signatories so far, including from actors Javier Bardem and Mark Ruffalo, as well as many prominent figures in the documentary field including Oscar winners Laura Poitras, Rob Epstein, Dan Cogan, Alex Gibney, Roger Ross Williams, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Orlando von Einsiedel, Dan Lindsay, and Ezra Edelman, and Oscar nominees Geeta Gandbhir, Liz Garbus, Connie Field, Guy Davidi, R\u00e9mi Grellety, Kellen Quinn, Joe Berlinger, Kirstine Barfod, Laura Nix, Sam Bisbee, Alexander Nanau, Joslyn Barnes, Raoul Peck, Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering, Carl Deal, and Tia Lessin, as well as former Sundance Film Festival director Tabitha Jackson, filmmakers Kirsten Johnson, Susan Lacy, Robert Bahar, Alison Klayman, Marjan Safinia, producer Ina Fichman, and many others.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe IDA\u2019s letter includes several bullet-pointed items: \u201cIDA calls on the Government of Israel to:<\/p>\n

\u201cwithdraw the threats to revoke Abraham\u2019s and Szor\u2019s citizenship, and abandon the proposed legislation;<\/p>\n

\u201crespect the filmmakers\u2019 journalistic right to refuse to disclose the identities of confidential sources<\/p>\n

\u201creject changes to public film funding that penalize filmmakers for critical work or international recognition.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe also call on everyone taking part in the public debate to reject the intimidation of the filmmakers and their families.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tDeadline has been alerted to a planned protest against NAZA outside Lincoln Center in New York City, where the film will screen on Saturday. According to organizers of the demonstration, they intend to \u201cshow documented footage from the October 7 massacre, alongside material challenging the film\u2019s claims.\u201d A nor\u2019easter storm<\/a> moving up the east coast may complicate any plans for an outdoor demonstration.<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s the IDA letter, from the organization\u2019s executive director, Dominic Asmall Willsdon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

IDA calls on the Israeli government to withdraw its threats against filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. We also call for an end to the public campaign of intimidation against them.
Since NAZA won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival, senior Israeli officials have moved against its directors. The Culture Minister has accused them of treason and sought to revoke their citizenship. The Prime Minister has announced bills to revoke the citizenship of anyone who \u201cslanders IDF soldiers\u201d and to raise defamation damages twentyfold.<\/p>\n

This official rhetoric has been accompanied by a public campaign against the filmmakers. Graffiti branding them \u201ctraitors\u201d has appeared, and protesters have gathered outside the home of Szor\u2019s parents. Israeli filmmakers and human rights groups have warned that it could lead to violence. Disagreement with a film must not become a threat to the people who made it.<\/p>\n

The Israeli military disputes the film\u2019s account, and it is entitled to do so. But as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Israel is bound by Article 19, under which restrictions on expression must be provided by law and be necessary and proportionate to a legitimate aim. Revoking citizenship, imposing punitive damages, or opening security investigations in response to a documentary does not meet that test. The UN Human Rights Committee recognizes the protection of journalistic sources as part of freedom of expression, and the filmmakers\u2019 right not to disclose the identities of their sources must be upheld.<\/p>\n

The Israel Film Council has also proposed ending credit for international festival selection in public film funding and creating a dedicated funding track for films celebrating IDF soldiers.<\/p>\n

Threats of this kind are a risk documentary makers face in the course of their work. More than 1,500 Israeli film professionals, 43 Israeli human rights organizations, and the directors of major international festivals have defended Abraham and Szor.<\/p>\n

IDA calls on the Government of Israel to:<\/p>\n

\u00b7 withdraw the threats to revoke Abraham\u2019s and Szor\u2019s citizenship, and abandon the proposed legislation;
\u00b7 respect the filmmakers\u2019 journalistic right to refuse to disclose the identities of confidential sources
\u00b7 reject changes to public film funding that penalize filmmakers for critical work or international recognition.<\/p>\n

We also call on everyone taking part in the public debate to reject the intimidation of the filmmakers and their families.<\/p>\n

We stand with Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. IDA is ready to support them through our Emergency Assistance Program, as we support other documentarians facing threats for their work<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The International Documentary Association is coming to the defense of NAZA filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[283858,85,27047,46,269301,43,278608,278798],"class_list":["post-627834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-dominic-asmall-willsdon","tag-il","tag-international-documentary-association","tag-israel","tag-naza","tag-news","tag-rachel-szor","tag-yuval-abraham"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}