Israel's culture minister, Miki Zohar, has called for the Oscar-winning directors of NAZA, a documentary examining Israel's conduct in Gaza, to be stripped of their citizenship, accusing them of 'treason against the state', according to the Guardian.
Key facts
- Culture minister Miki Zohar accused directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of 'treason against the state', the Guardian reported.
- Zohar called for the Oscar-winning Israeli directors to be stripped of their citizenship.
- NAZA is a documentary that the Guardian describes as examining Israel's mass killing of civilians in Gaza.
- The film was produced by the Guardian.
- According to the Guardian, NAZA is named for an acronym used by Israel's intelligence service to indicate the number of civilian deaths it expects in a Gaza airstrike.
Israel’s culture minister, Miki Zohar, has called for the Oscar-winning Israeli directors of the documentary NAZA to be stripped of their citizenship, accusing them of “treason against the state”, according to the Guardian.
The film’s directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, made a documentary that the Guardian describes as examining Israel’s mass killing of civilians in Gaza. The Guardian reported that the film was produced by the outlet itself.
The documentary’s title, NAZA, is drawn from an acronym used by Israel’s intelligence service to indicate how many civilians it expects to die in an airstrike on Gaza, according to the Guardian.
In comments accompanying the film, the directors said of Israeli intelligence: “They know the house they are bombing is full of children.”
The minister’s call to revoke the filmmakers’ citizenship marks an escalation in the response of some Israeli officials to work scrutinising the conduct of the country’s military and intelligence services in Gaza. The available report does not include a detailed response from the directors to Zohar’s accusation, or further comment from other Israeli officials.
Why it matters
A government minister seeking to strip filmmakers of citizenship over their work raises questions about press and artistic freedom in Israel. The dispute also reflects continuing international scrutiny of the conduct of Israel's military and intelligence services in Gaza.
Frequently asked questions
What is the documentary NAZA about?
According to the Guardian, NAZA is a documentary about Israel's mass killing of civilians in Gaza. Its title comes from an acronym used by Israel's intelligence service to indicate how many civilians it expects to die in an airstrike on Gaza.
Who directed NAZA?
The film was directed by Oscar-winning Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. It was produced by the Guardian.
Why does the Israeli minister want the directors' citizenship revoked?
Culture minister Miki Zohar accused the directors of 'treason against the state' and called for them to be stripped of their Israeli citizenship, according to the Guardian.