Culture minister urges revoking citizenship of ‘NAZA’ film creators for ‘treason’

Culture Minister Miki Zohar accused filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor of treason on Sunday evening and called for their citizenship to be revoked, after their documentary “NAZA,” which is about Israel’s alleged AI-assisted killing of civilians in Gaza, won a special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival. “The searing self-hatred of the producers, who are willing to hurt their homeland for applause from the antisemites of the world, is inconceivable and is a betrayal of the country,” Zohar said in a statement. He also said that “as culture minister, I will immediately act to revoke the Israeli citizenship of these despicable directors for treason against the state.” Other Israeli ministers also took aim at the directors, who won an Oscar in 2025 for their film “No Other Land” about settler violence in the West Bank. “You are a disgrace and an embarrassment to the entire people of Israel. Go away!” far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on X. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Newsletter email address Get it By signing up, you agree to the terms “I am certain that your friends, that is to say our enemies Hamas in Gaza, will welcome you with open arms,” he continued. Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar at the opening of the Israeli Cartoon Museum in the city of Holon, February 10, 2026. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90) The revocation of nationality is legally possible in Israel, although it is rarely applied. In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that the state can revoke the citizenship of those who carry out terror attacks or actions that constitute treason. Advertisement The law requires the interior minister to submit the revocation request, the justice minister to approve it and judges to validate it. Abraham and Szor say they used conversations with 24 different Israeli military or intelligence whistleblowers who spoke on condition that their identities be protected. IDF slams ‘completely false’ claim included in film Meanwhile, the Israeli military on Sunday denied ever planning or carrying out a strike during the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in which 500 civilian deaths had been anticipated. A promotional clip for “NAZA” — a Hebrew acronym meaning collateral damage — shows a purported Israeli intelligence soldier being asked what the largest number of expected civilian deaths was ever approved for a strike in Gaza. “I don’t know how many were killed, because they never check this, but there was once an approval for 500,” the whistleblower says. In response to an X post (below) containing the clip, the Israel Defense Forces said the claim is “completely false.” Advertisement ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????????????????? ???????????? Ex-Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers BROKE THEIR SILENCE, describing an ICE-COLD SYSTEM where strikes were calculated to kill as many people as possible in Gaza. Their testimony is now a film at the Venice Film Festival. pic.twitter.com/lwdMSMbErm — Rabbi Jeff (@RabbiJeffx) September 10, 2026 “The IDF has never planned, approved, or carried out a strike in Gaza in which 500 civilians or anything near that number were anticipated to be killed. Nor was any credible claim raised throughout the war suggesting that an IDF strike had caused anything near that number of fatalities,” the military said. The IDF said that Abraham and Szor “couldn’t possibly verify this claim, there is no real supporting evidence, and yet they published it anyway.” “Additionally, nothing about the interviewee, not his service nor his role can be independently checked and verified,” the military adds. The IDF already on Friday said it “categorically rejects” the allegations made in the film, saying that decisions regarding the selection and approval of strikes were made “by human personnel only… and not by artificial intelligence.” Advertisement Also, in its initial response to the film, the IDF said that “the excerpts cited include claims regarding national and military strategy that are clearly beyond the knowledge of junior-level soldiers,” and that there are “references to situations in which IDF Intelligence Directorate soldiers, who were allegedly interviewed for the film, by definition would not have been involved.” Abraham has defended the film’s reporting, done in partnership with Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, calling it “rigorous” and its findings reported by other mainstream journalists as well. He asserted that the filmmakers had received threats but did not go into more detail. The Gaza war, which was sparked by the Hamas-led October 2023 terror onslaught against Israel, has killed over 73,500 people in Gaza, including more than 1,330 since the October 2025 ceasefire, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in the enclave, although the toll does not differentiate between combatants and civilians. The Israeli military believes that Hamas’s overall toll is largely accurate, with IDF officials estimating that two to three civilians were killed for every dead terror operative. Abraham and Szor were also part of the team behind the 2024 documentary “No Other Land,” which chronicled Israel’s demolitions in the Palestinian West Bank village of Masafer Yatta and won an Academy Award for best documentary feature. AFP contributed to this report. 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Sign in to stop seeing this Most Popular 1 Hegseth, associates pushed F-15 airmen downed over Iran to appear on ’60 Minutes’ – report 2 Iran hardliners launched Hormuz attacks in defiance of leaders, undermining US deal — report 3 Man with Palestinian flag runs on field at 9:11 in 9/11 NY ball game, is pelted with beer cans 4 Oct. 7-focused new season of ‘Fauda’ is No. 1 on Netflix in Lebanon 5 Scottish, Northern Irish and Welsh leaders said planning effort to dissolve the UK 6 Saudi Arabia shutters major oil pipeline struck by drones from Iraq 7 German Jewish leader, a Holocaust survivor, gets death threat linked to victory of far-right AfD 8 Trump: Iran likely behind attack on Saudi pipeline, Houthis told us they don’t want to fight read more: Israel & the Region Miki Zohar Israeli citizenship documentary Gaza Strip Venice Film Festival IDF Israel Defense Forces 2023-2025 Israel-Hamas war If you’d like to comment, join The Times of Israel Community. 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