Gaza Documentary Wins Award, Israeli Minister Threatens to Strip Filmmakers of Citizenship

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar has threatened to revoke the citizenship of the two filmmakers behind ‘Naja’, a documentary critical of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, after the film won a Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

In a post on X on Sunday (September 13), Zohar called the documentary “disgraceful” and accused its filmmakers of harming their own country to gain praise from what he described as “antisemites”. He also accused them of “betrayal against the state”.

Zohar said that, as culture minister, he would seek to revoke the Israeli citizenship of Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.

The 80-minute documentary alleges that AI-powered technology was used in Israel’s military operations against Palestinians in Gaza. It features interviews with several Israeli military and intelligence personnel whose identities have been withheld for security reasons.

The interviewees spoke about the use of an AI system called “Lavender”. According to their accounts, the technology was used to monitor Palestinians’ telecommunications in Gaza and to make decisions about targeting specific individuals for killing.