From ovations in Venice to death threats in Israel: the extreme responses to NAZA documentary — SkimNews
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- NAZA received a 25-minute standing ovation in the Sala Grande of the Venice Film Festival following its 80-minute screening, with international distribution plans to be announced after a September 30 US theatrical release.
- The film features 24 anonymized Israeli military insiders from elite units who describe AI-powered targeting systems selecting Gaza strike casualties, set against a war in which more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed.
- Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday he would promote two bills stripping citizenship from those who "defame" IDF soldiers and the state, warning offenders would be "deeply hurt in their pocket."
- Rightwing protesters outside Rachel Szor's parents' house in central Israel chanted "death penalty for traitors," while Channel 14's Yehuda Schlesinger said she and co-director Yuval Abraham should be "pursued" and "hunted" and called the Venice applause "25 minutes of antisemitic applause."
- +972 Magazine's offices were broken into by rightwing activists who filmed the intrusion, and Haaretz warned the Oscar-winning directors' lives were credibly endangered, according to dozens of human rights and press freedom groups that rallied to defend them.
- Haaretz columnist Etan Nechin, who attended the New York press screening, wrote that in "a healthy democracy, NAZA would be shown on the evening news" but instead the directors "have effectively been pushed into exile."
Why it matters: Netanyahu's push to strip citizenship from those who 'defame' IDF soldiers, layered on top of death threats, office break-ins, and 'hunt' calls for the directors, weaponizes one unseen film against Israel's critics — language that even mainstream columnists including Nahum Barnea now call 'delusional' in a country where 73,000 Palestinians have been killed.
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