Israel’s Minister of Culture Threatens to Revoke Israeli Citizenships of ‘NAZA’ Filmmakers

Israel’s Minister of Culture Miki Zohar threatened to revoke the Israeli citizenships of “NAZA” co-directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. He called the documentary “shocking” and accused the filmmakers of “betraying the state.”

“The self-loathing that burns in the creators, who are willing to harm their homeland just to get applause from antisemites around the world, is inconceivable and constitutes a betrayal of the state,” Zohar wrote. “As Minister of Culture, I will act immediately to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable creators for betraying the state.”

“NAZA” shows “in detail the systems behind Israel’s calculated mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” according to its official logline. The film recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it received overwhelming acclaim. The standing ovation at the film’s premiere clocked in at 24.5 minutes, the longest in festival history. Abraham and Szor were awarded the special jury prize for their work.

After accepting the award, Abraham said, “It’s honestly not very easy to stand here, thinking of all the Israeli politicians and journalists who are now attacking this film and denying it without even seeing it. So much is being done not to look at reality.”

He added, “We believe that the denial of a crime is what helps it persist, and that’s why it’s especially important for us that Israelis watch this film — it’s our country that is doing these crimes — that Europeans watch it, and especially here in Italy because your government and the German government are blocking pressure on Israel that can end this, that Americans watch it because that country is funding much of the killing.”