Israeli Army Chief Orders Legal Review of ‘NAZA’ Documentary

The chief of staff at the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has ordered a legal review of the documentary NAZA to assess the possibility of legal action against its filmmakers and those involved with it.

Calling the film “an attack on the State of Israel,” IDF chief Eyal Zamir claimed NAZA defamed the military, though he acknowledged he has not seen the movie in full. He separately ordered an investigation into the leaking of classified material used in its production.

Directed by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor (No Other Land), NAZA is an exposé featuring testimony for 24 former IDF soldiers and military personnel, who outline what they claim is the IDF’s systematic killing of civilians in Gaza. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival where, on Saturday, it won the Grand Jury Prize. The movie’s title is an acronym used by the Israeli military meaning “collateral damage.”

Comparing the claims made in the film to “blood libels,” Zamir said the Israeli military would use “every tool at our disposal” against it.

Writing on X, IDF Spokesperson Effie Defrin called on Abraham and Szor to allow army representatives to view the full film “so that we can address each of the claims raised in it objectively.”

NAZA was produced by Guardian News and Media, the company that also publishes British newspaper The Guardian. In a statement to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, a spokesman for the group said it was “disturbed to see the authoritarian response” to the film in Israel and defended the film, saying it was “based on more than three years of investigative journalism…The testimonies it contains are true and we believe they deserve to be heard.” The company said would “robustly defend NAZA – and the team behind it – from any attacks or attempts at censorship.”